Plymouth fishing 'crisis' as octopus population explodes'the octopus bloom is not a blip - it’s a sustained threat'View Image Octopus (Image: Plymouth City Council)A surge in the Octopus population is likely to continue impacting the livelihood of crab and lobster fishers around Plymouth and the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall, a new study has revealed. ‌Leader of Plymouth City Council Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) called the Octopus bloom in South West waters which has accelerated from January 2025 “a crisis for our local fishing industry” as now the science has backed up local concerns. Scientists from the Marine Biological Association, University of Plymouth, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and Blue Dog Consulting reveal in their report that the bloom is continuing, is “the most impactful one in over a century” and poses a “significant and complex challenge to marine ecosystems and the fishing industry”. Ocean current modelling supports this, showing that larvae from Guernsey, which has seen its own octopus bloom since 2024, likely contributed to the UK surge. ‌Cllr Tudor Evans , said: “This is a crisis for our local fishing community.