“You only have one or two hands to pull them up,” he says, “and they have eight to pull you down.” An unprecedented number of octopuses have been reported off the coast of Cornwall in recent weeks, sparking celebrations and concerns about a “population explosion”. “I have been fishing for 40 years and I have never experienced that amount,” said Cameron Henry of Mylor, who fishes with his two brothers. He first noticed the increase in late May, when he began to raise pots of lobsters and cuttlefish that were apparently empty after an octopus thief was the first to take the bait or bonus. “We had no shellfish – only shellfish remains.” Within a few days, Henry caught the culprits, sometimes two or three in a pot: “You can imagine how much fun it is to get them out.” The common octopus is a rare sight in British waters despite the unusual number of spectators off the coast of Cornwall in recent weeks. Photo: Shannon Moran For Chesterfield, who operates alone from Mevagissey with his 30-foot trawl, overloading the octopus is an even greater logistical challenge. Larger specimens stretch 1.2 meters (4 feet) when hovering over the deck – if you can make them stay still enough, he says. “They just throw their tentacles over you and turn inwards and out, literally. “When they come out of the pot, they stick to the deck, they stick to your feet – it’s endless.” One day in early June, Chesterfield says he caught 260 pounds of octopus, equivalent to about 150 creatures. In a typical year he would expect to catch half a dozen. “There have been many days when you are lifting 100 kilos, there is no problem,” he says. “Sometimes there are five or six in a container.” The Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which coordinates the voluntary monitoring of local marine life, says the “huge” number of octopus spectators in the area recorded not only by fishermen but also divers and spearfishers indicates a rare population explosion. Despite its name, the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is a rare sight in British waters, says Matt Slater, the trust’s maritime protection officer. “In a typical year, we would only expect a few shows and some very excited divers – but now we get reports all the time, which is great.” Like many octopuses, the species lives only one or two years, but produces up to 500,000 eggs, which means that favorable conditions can lead to huge population fluctuations. According to records kept by the Marine Biological Association, the last such event along the south coast of England was more than 70 years ago, in the summer of 1948. Earlier, a “plague” of octopuses was described in 1899. “It got to the point where fishermen were really worried about making a living,” says Slater. “They found them in pools with rocks and even laid eggs there, which is not normal.” A fishing boat in Mevagissey, Cornwall. Photo: Tom Nicholson / Reuters Henry says there were concerns he would be competing for catches this summer: “We see so much that it would not take them long to fish in an area.” But both he and Chesterfield say views have dwindled in recent days, suggesting the consortium could move forward – either at Land’s End or at sea. It is possible, however, that octopus outbreaks will become more common in the future. Like jellyfish, octopuses have been found to adapt faster than other species to the changing marine ecosystem. Many species have already been found to extend their range with warmer waters, and a study published last year found that octopuses can also withstand changes in acidity levels better than other species. Slater, at least, is excited about the explosion. A member of the Cephalopod group, who carried cards, used to work in an aquarium and says that individual animals recognized his face and favored him over other staff. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am “An octopus plague, for me, is something to be celebrated,” he says. “I was hoping that one day I could see one of these big population explosions, and I feel that this could be a year of great decline.” Slater encourages members of the public to report octopus views on the Cornwall Wildlife Trust website – but Henry and Chesterfield, in the front row, fear they will be shot down. They both say that they “send human” to catch their octopus quickly with a knife between the eyes, in the central brain of the creature. That means “we did not make them crawl across the boat like we did in previous years,” says Chesterfield. “It was a big, difficult day until we found out.”
