After a week of rainfall, the grass is growing again, showing the remarkable ability of nature to bounce back. However, after a summer of record-breaking temperatures and drought, I think most people recognise that change is here to stay and that behaviour needs to change with it. Deciding exactly what to do differently is the big question.
At sea, nature has already responded with fish moving to somewhere that better suits their requirements. Fishermen have been presented with a fait accompli and need to work out whether they have the equipment to respond to a new style of fishing and, if so, whether there will be a market for what they catch.
On average, marine temperatures around the UK have been 2˚C higher than usual, with isolated places recording 4-5˚C increases. This level can damage important habitats such as kelp and seagrass.
In the English Channel the most significant consequence has been the arrival of large numbers of common octopus. They normally find our waters too cold, although it has to be said that large “blooms” of octopus have occurred sporadically in the past. That their appearance in 2025 is continuing into 2026 shows signs of permanence. Octopus are voracious predators, particularly of crustacea, to the extent that Italy is now breeding them to deal with their unwanted invasion of blue crab which are decimating their native clams. Here in the UK, it is primarily our crabs and lobsters that have been taken by octopus, but numbers of scallops and whelks have also reduced. Even if this current bloom doesn’t return next year, it takes 5-7 years for a lobster to reach marketable size and in the wild crabs take around 4 years, so replacement would be slow. The classic summer treat of a crab sandwich is under threat.
The obvious answer is to eat octopus instead. One boat landed a catch of octopus worth £500, 000 in Brixham recently, although the market is mainly to Spain and Greece. We are unlikely to see individuals buying a whole octopus to cook themselves, but that is equally true of crab. Octopus has already been on the menus of British restaurants this summer, but the restaurant market alone would struggle to make much of a dent in the quantity swimming in our oceans. It needs cooking and canning before most people would buy it.
The arrival of new wildlife off our shores presents an alternative to fishing – wildlife tours. Alongside Brixham’s fishing fleet you will now find a 42ft catamaran Spot On taking visitors out for a full day of wildlife watching. Closest to the shore are sunfish, the heaviest bony fish in our waters, capable of reaching 10 foot in length and weighing several thousand pounds. They are shaped like a discus, with no tail and a bulging forehead. They propel themselves in a manner akin to a rowing boat on its side, using the dorsal fin and an identical one on their underside. It basks on the surface so close to the boat that you could almost touch it. Later it returns to deeper water to feast on the coast’s abundant jellyfish.
Whilst most of the traditional species including auks, terns, porpoise and gulls are still evident; the white-beaked dolphin, unable to tolerate sea temperatures much above 17˚C, has now headed northwards into cooler water. They have been replaced by the common dolphin, having moved up from the Bay of Biscay. Larger Risso dolphins are now also seen several miles out in deeper waters. These 12ft long dolphins, with bulbous heads, bear heavy scars on their bodies, wrought by the octopus on which they are feeding.
The Bay of Biscay is also providing many of our new bird arrivals, including the Balearic Shearwaters, now one of Europe’s rarest and critically endangered seabirds, thought to have fewer than 3000 breeding pairs left. These wildlife tours are sure to be popular.
Further north, Whitby in North Yorkshire, in August celebrated the first bluefin tuna to be caught and landed in the North sea for almost 90 years. In the 1950s, Whitby was a mecca for big game fishing, still holding the record for an 85lb bluefin tuna caught on rod and line in 1933. The big game species disappeared from the North Sea when the herring stocks were overfished and as top predators their continued appearance depends on everything from the seabed upwards being in place. There is now a much greater awareness of the need for conservation and creating healthy eco-systems. Since 2023 Defra has granted annual commercial licenses to catch and land bluefin tuna to just a handful of fishing vessels, but the waters off Devon and Cornwall are reportedly teeming with “tunny”. I always avoided eating imported fresh tuna, however this year I have been able to buy locally landed on several occasions which has been some compensation for the loss of crab. Given that tuna is one of the “big five” species consumed in the UK it is great to know it can now be found here.
Since 2018, researchers have tagged 165 bluefin tuna from the south-west coast, which reveals that they return to the Mediterranean for spawning before returning for the British summertime. It is thought that those found off the north-east coast may be genetically distinct and are certainly much larger in size.
Another traditionally Mediterranean fish is anchovies, which are now caught in British waters although the market is still mainly in Spain and Portugal.
If the waters off the southern coast of the UK are now seeing fish that have moved up from the Bay of Biscay, it follows that many of those previously found in southern Britain are also moving northward to cooler waters. Norfolk is now the lucky recipient of the bass that have moved. Fishermen there are also seeing smooth-hound sharks, dogfish and thornback rays, but this is at the expense of cod, crab and whelks.
The UK has not been able to meet the demand for cod for quite some time now and fish and chip shops have been trying to introduce customers to different varieties, including the dogfish. Dogfish is of the shark species, with a viciously sharp skin that needs careful handling. It’s numbers have risen as a consequence of the decline in cod, the loss of a dominant species meaning that there is more food for those further down the food chain. It has a meaty flesh, not flaky like cod, but tasty and which could provide an acceptable alternative. Certainly, more acceptable than Catfish, which despite the similarity in name, is a completely different fish farmed in fresh water predominantly in Asia, with China being the largest producer. In particular one type, also known as Pangasius or River Cobbler, has been passed off as cod or haddock in fish shops here rather than being openly marketed. This is a concern not only here but in countries like America, where such frauds harm the reputation of its own production.
In order to take advantage of the movement in fish it is important that Defra reacts quickly to the changing scene otherwise, as has been the case this year, licenses for fish such as bass aren’t being granted in time to reflect their movement. Unfortunately, the UK government has repeatedly failed to support our fishermen who are keen to make our fisheries thriving and financially viable. Quotas are seen as a bargaining chip to be used in gaining closer relationships with the EU. I am already imagining the scenario in which we are told that although these fish are now swimming in our waters, they belong to the EU and so they must be granted the right to fish here.
The experiences at sea are a useful pointer for those farming the land who would no doubt echo the frustration at the lack of support for producing food.
For home cooks there is also a learning curve attached to these new arrivals. Octopus, as I have already mentioned, is not often attempted at home, in part because of its size, although if you are familiar with cooking squid, it’s preparation is similar. I am also irrationally uncomfortable with cooking such intelligent creatures, but have reminded myself that they are eating our shellfish and need to be controlled. So, if you do get the opportunity to cook one, making it tender is the key issue. There are many theories about how best to do this, most common of which is to thrash the octopus against a rock! Alan Davidson in Mediterranean Seafood (which may well become the UK’s new fish bible) reports that some people believe that placing a slice of cork in the pot will help tenderise. The recipe section of the book demonstrates how the same creature is cooked in different Mediterranean countries, so we read that in Nice, one buys the octopus the day before and let it hang overnight, tentacles down, to help make it tender. I have reproduced the full recipe below, but what I want to point out here is that even cut into strips, the gentle braising lasts for at least three hours. I have eaten octopus in restaurants here recently which I don’t think are giving it anything like long enough.
Thankfully, in contrast to octopus, cooking fresh tuna is very quick and easy. All that is needed is a very hot pan or barbeque. I like the charred stripes produced by a griddle pan, but whatever you use ensuring tuna sears quickly is the key. As soon as you see the changing colour at the side of the steak reach almost halfway, flip it over and cook the other side. Remove whilst there is still a thin pink line separating the two sides. Tuna is fine served raw but dries out quickly if over cooked.
Poulpe à la Niҫoise
Octopus in the style of Nice
Serves six or more
Prepare the octopus in the usual way (see p. 213) and cut it into strips. Put these in a casserole and heat the casserole for 5 minutes or so while the excess water sweats out of the octopus. Drain
Lightly brown a chopped onion in olive oil, with 2 chopped cloves of garlic and chopped parsley. Add a bouquet garni and the strips of octopus and go on cooking for 5 minutes until the octopus is doré (well coloured).
Next pour at least 150 ml (5 fl oz) of cognac over the dish and set it alight. When the flames have died down add a tablespoon of flour, stir, then add 5 or 6 chopped tomatoes plus a little (say a teaspoonful) tomato purée and 150 ml (5 fl oz) of white wine. If necessary, in order to cover the octopus, add a little water too. Cook gently, covered, for 3 hours or so until the octopus is tender.
(Mme Annie, Restaurant La Trappa, the Old Town, Nice
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