When seasoned fisherman Arthur Dewhirst cast his nets this year, he anticipated the usual haul of plaice, turbot, and Dover sole. Instead, his deck was awash with hundreds of wriggling octopuses – a sight far from his typical catch.
His initial reaction was pure excitement. ‘Dollar signs! Dollar signs! Dollar signs!’ he recounted with a chuckle from his trawler in Brixham, Devon. This unexpected bounty meant big business.
Indeed, fishing fleets along England’s entire southern coastline have been experiencing an unprecedented surge in octopus hauls this summer. With octopuses fetching around £7 per kilo, Dewhirst himself saw his weekly income boosted by as much as £10,000 (about $13,475).
In Brixham, home to England’s largest fish market, this ‘octopus invasion’ quickly became the main topic of conversation. Local businesses embraced the phenomenon: a harborside cafe adorned its facade with an octopus mural, while a restaurant began serving octopus alongside traditional fish and chips, with its owner even sharing cooking tutorials online for a creature largely unfamiliar to British diners.
An octopus, ready for sale, rests in a container at the bustling Brixham fish market, a vivid illustration of the unexpected marine boom.
Fishermen like Arthur Dewhirst have reaped significant financial rewards from this unusual abundance of cephalopods.
While the exact reasons for this bewildering influx are still debated, scientists largely point to rising sea temperatures. These warmer waters are making the English coast increasingly welcoming for this particular octopus species, typically native to the Mediterranean.
Professor Steve Simpson, a marine biologist at the University of Bristol, confirms that ‘climate change is a likely driver’ behind this population explosion. He explains that while Britain lies at the northern edge of the octopus’s natural range, warming seas are gradually transforming the island’s waters into a more ideal habitat for them.
However, not all reactions are joyful. While trawler crews in the picturesque fishing port celebrate their windfall, crab and lobster fishermen face growing apprehension.
Initially, these shellfish harvesters also benefited, pulling up pots teeming with valuable octopuses that had somehow colonized their traps. Now, however, their pots are increasingly filled with empty shells and skeletal fragments, stark proof that the eight-armed newcomers are voraciously consuming their traditional catch.
Across the board, locals agree this situation is unlike anything seen in recent memory.
Dave Driver, a 64-year-old trawler operator, stated, ‘It’s the first time I have caught them in 49 years.’ This is despite his vessel not typically venturing into the deep waters favored by these octopuses, highlighting the widespread nature of the phenomenon.
Barry Young, managing director of Brixham Trawler Agents, which oversees the local fish auction, confirmed the scale of the event. From January to August, a staggering 12,000 tons of octopus were sold, with a record 48 tons auctioned on a single day.
“We were simply invaded,” Young remarked. ‘Day after day, the numbers kept climbing. It was truly phenomenal to witness such quantities, and it provided a welcome windfall for everyone involved in the catches.’
Yet, there’s a catch: these Mediterranean octopuses, renowned for their intelligence, are also formidable predators. (And for clarity, the correct plural is ‘octopuses,’ or ‘octopodes,’ not ‘octopi,’ as the term derives from Greek, not Latin.)
“They essentially turned the crab pots into their personal dining rooms, their very own restaurants,” Mr. Young explained. ‘These octopuses were devouring crabs and lobsters with alarming speed. They are ferocious animals, and you can only imagine the devastation they caused, consuming everything in their path.’
A video shows Jon Dornom retrieving a crab trap off Salcombe, England. Many traps have been found with octopuses feasting on the contents, leaving only empty shells. Thankfully, this particular trap still held its valuable crab.
Mr. Young recalls a similar mass arrival of octopuses in the early 1950s, which mysteriously disappeared within a couple of years. He admits that predicting next year’s situation is impossible.
“They might reappear, or they might not. We certainly had no warning they were coming this year,” he chuckled, adding humorously, ‘They didn’t exactly call ahead to say they were on their way!’
As summer gives way to autumn, the extraordinary catches have begun to dwindle. One recent morning, only two boxes of octopus remained at the fish market by 8 a.m. – holding single creatures weighing approximately 12 pounds (5.4 kg) and 15 pounds (6.8 kg).
The vast majority of the day’s 1,200 kilograms of octopus had already been sold by 6 a.m., mostly bound for markets in Spain and Portugal, where they command a significantly higher price than in the UK.
Seizing the opportunity, Robert Andre Simonetti, proprietor of Brixham’s Simply Fish restaurant, shared his cooking method on social media. He recommends salting the octopus overnight, then gently simmering it for up to two hours with onion and bay leaf. After slow cooling, it’s perfect for chargrilling or roasting the next day.
Simonetti concedes that preparing octopus ‘can be a messy old job, with ink everywhere,’ but he insists the rich flavor, ‘almost like a strong lobster,’ makes the effort entirely worthwhile.
He noted, “The entire town was buzzing about it because catching such large quantities is so rare. We served ours chargrilled with a hummus sauce, and it was a huge hit.”
Working amidst the bustle of his restaurant, Mr. Simonetti proudly declared Brixham, with its vibrant port and fish market, ‘the octopus capital of England, without a doubt.’
The scenic harbor town of Brixham, where fishing crews along England’s southern coast experienced a remarkable octopus boom, sometimes generating over $13,000 in extra weekly income.
Robert Andre Simonetti, owner of Simply Fish, stands inside his Brixham restaurant. He proudly proclaimed the town to be ‘the octopus capital of England’ amidst the recent marine surge.
Brixham’s embrace of the octopus began even before the recent surge. A neon depiction of the eight-limbed creature already illuminated a quayside building, and in May, a striking mural was added to the Tides cafe. Owner Claire Brinicombe, inspired by local fishermen’s stories of abundant hauls, declared, “It’s the year of the octopus.”
However, the mood shifts further along the Devonshire coast in Salcombe. Here, those dependent on shellfish harvests are now calculating the potential long-term damage and financial cost of this octopus boom.
For Jon Dornom, crab and lobster are his livelihood. Yet, one February morning, hauling his pots yielded a startling surprise: ‘hundreds of aliens,’ as he described the unexpected octopus invasion.
“It was quite a shock; we’d never encountered anything like it,” he admitted. “They are unbelievably strong when they grip inside a pot. It takes all your effort just to extract one.”
Dornom recalled, ‘We were trying to contain them in bins on the stern, but they kept crawling out. They were so incredibly active, we were at a loss for how to handle them.’
Despite the initial chaos, the crew quickly adapted. On one particularly ‘nice day,’ Mr. Dornom managed to catch nearly three tons of octopus, bringing in an impressive £20,000, or almost $27,000.
However, this boom soon turned to bust. As 64-year-old Dornom continued to retrieve his lobster pots, he began finding them eerily empty, save for scattered shells and skeletal remains – the tell-tale signs of flesh having been expertly extracted from the claws.
The future of his fishing business now hangs precariously on whether these octopuses will return next year, and the extent of the damage they’ve already inflicted upon the vital crab and lobster populations.
“No catch, no wage,” Dornom stated gravely from the wheel of his 15-meter vessel, as it slowly navigated Salcombe harbor. His livelihood is now intrinsically tied to the unpredictable nature of these intelligent cephalopods. “I personally am terrified,” he confessed.
At Brixham harbor, an illuminated octopus sign glows brightly, marking the Rockfish seafood market and restaurant – a symbol of the town’s surprising new marine identity.