23/07/2026
Is the octopus bloom over?
This was the scene of a Cornish landing a few weeks ago, but today it’s a different story.
In recent months local crustacean fishermen have turned their hand to catching Mediterranean octopus that they’re finding in their lobster pots eating all our shellfish. It’s proved a vital alternative income for these boats whose income would otherwise have been decimated by the octopus invasion. With the demand for octopus still as strong as ever in the Mediterranean countries, whose local octopus have moved to West Country waters, our local fishermen have been landing them and selling them back to the Mediterranean.
A month or so ago the octopus started to reduce in size and then last week their numbers fell sharply. One of our local fishermen in Looe, who was finding 500kg a day in his lobster pots, today found just 20kg, giving a strong sign that the octopus bloom has now come to an end.
Will they be back? Most probably. They came and went away last summer but returned in the winter. No one is quite sure what’s driving them up this way but the most likely explanation is that they’re following the food source, which may have dwindled in the Mediterranean due to over-fishing.
We’ll be keeping it on our restaurant specials menu and retail lunch boxes until stocks run out. The sea truly is a mystery… everyday restarting.
