Record tuna landed

An angler has landed a potential new world record tuna in the form of a 738lb pacific bluefin from New Zealand.

Incredibly, Nathan Adams managed to land the huge specimen from the six metre boat which he was fishing from near Houhora off the east coast of the country’s North Island.
If approved by the International Game Fish Association it would be the largest ever landed on rod and reel.

The 42-year-old member of Muriwai Sports Fishing Club now plans to have a cast of the fish mounted on his living room wall.

Unfortunately he will be unable to profit from his catch as he had de-registered his boat with the authorities to allow him to fish for protected marlin, and it is illegal to sell fish from an unregistered boat. In January this year a 269kg Bluefin caught off the coast of Japan sold for around £500,000.

He said: “I wouldn’t have minded a few hundred grand, but there are rich guys overseas who would pay hundreds of thousands to mount that fish on their wall and say they’d caught it.”

The current pacific bluefin record stands at 716lb 8oz and was taken in 2007 off Westport, New Zealand.