On a bluefin tuna trip in Malta you should go out expecting to release the fish. EU law lets a recreational boat keep at most one bluefin a day, never sell it, and release live fish wherever it can; Malta then adds its own short recreational season and a small national allocation that has run out within days in past years. So the fight, the photo alongside the boat and the moment the tuna swims off are what you are really booking. Everything else depends on the boat and the week you go.<\/p>\n
That is not a disappointment once you know it. A bluefin in the Mediterranean is a fish of real size and real power, and the waters around Malta are one of the places they come to spawn. Hooking one on a small boat a few miles off the islands is the whole trip.<\/p>\n
The rules come from ICCAT, the international commission that manages Atlantic and Mediterranean tuna, and are written into EU law in Regulation (EU) 2023\/2053, the bluefin recovery plan. Three parts of it matter to a guest on a charter.<\/p>\n
Article 24 says a recreational or sport boat may not catch, keep on board, tranship or land more than one bluefin per vessel per day. Per vessel, not per angler: five people on the boat still means one fish. The same article bans the sale of any bluefin caught in recreational fishing, and it asks member states to make sure live fish are released, juveniles above all, as far as possible.<\/p>\n
Article 23 makes each country set aside a specific quota for recreational fishing, and dead bluefin are counted against it. That includes a fish that dies after a release went wrong, which is one reason a good crew takes the release seriously.<\/p>\n
There is also a minimum size in the Mediterranean, 30 kg or 115 cm, which matters less than you would think because the fish people hope for off Malta are usually well over it.<\/p>\n
Malta adds a national layer on top of the EU rule. As reported by The Journal in July 2021, a boat registered in the recreational categories applies to the Fisheries Department for a recreational tuna permit, the permit allows one tuna a day, and the season opens in mid June and runs until October or until the recreational allocation is caught, whichever comes first. That year the allocation lasted eleven days. Outside the open window, recreational fishing for bluefin is catch and release only.<\/p>\n
We could not find an official 2026 notice for the recreational season online, and the Fisheries Department pages do not load outside a browser, so treat the details above as how the system has worked, not as this year’s dates. Each season is set again. Our guide on whether you can keep the fish on a Malta charter<\/a> covers the other species, lampuki, amberjack and the reef fish, where the answer is usually yes.<\/p>\n The one Reelzy boat in Malta that is built around tuna is Hooked Malta<\/a>, run by Capt. Nigel from Gzira, on the Marsamxett side across from Valletta. It is a 25 foot Ranieri Evo with outriggers and downriggers, a toilet on board, and room for up to five guests. The captain fishes dead bait on heavy big game tackle, and his own description is blunt about the order of events: the little tunny, which run around 10 to 20 kilos off Malta, are fought on the “lighter” gear, while a bluefin tends to take the bait first and turn the morning into a long fight.<\/p>\n That is the shape of most days. You run out to where the bait and the birds are, the lines go in, and then it is waiting and watching the rods until one of them goes. A big bluefin is not a fish you reel in with your arms. The crew will put you in a harness or a fighting belt, show you how to lift with your legs and gain line on the drop, and coach you through every run. Expect sore forearms the next day.<\/p>\n When the fish comes alongside, the crew decides how the release is done. The good practice everyone in the sport agrees on is simple: keep the fish in the water, keep the fight as short as the tackle allows, take the hook out or cut the leader close, and hold the tuna upright alongside the boat while it moves forward slowly so water runs over its gills, until it kicks away on its own. You will get your photo of the fish beside the boat. You will not get the classic shot of a bluefin hoisted onto the deck, and on a well run boat you should not ask for it.<\/p>\n Little tunny, which the listing calls false albacore, are the other big fish on a tuna day, and they are not under the bluefin rules. Hooked Malta’s listing says guests can keep the catch where the regulations allow, and the crew will clean it for you, so bring a cool box in the car. Amberjack and bonito are on the boat’s species list too. A day that releases a bluefin can still end with fish for dinner.<\/p>\n If you would rather spend the day on table fish, reef fishing and trolling, Fishingmalta<\/a> sails from Ta’ Xbiex on a 33 foot Targa for up to eight anglers, after dorado, albacore, amberjack and bottom fish. It does not list bluefin, so it is the boat for a mixed day rather than a tuna hunt. Both boats are on our Malta fishing charters<\/a> page.<\/p>\n The bluefin that come into the central Mediterranean to spawn are the reason Malta has tuna fishing at all, and the recreational window that has been used in recent years sits in early summer, from mid June. That is also when the national allocation can close quickly, so a July trip may already be release only. After the window closes, a tuna trip is a catch and release day for the bluefin whatever happens, and the little tunny are what goes in the cool box. Ask the captain what has been around in the weeks before your dates; he sees it every day and we do not.<\/p>\n For month by month detail on lampuki, amberjack and the rest of the year, see our Malta fishing seasons for 2026<\/a>. Weather matters as much as the calendar: a gregale, the strong north easterly, can stop small boats for a day or two in autumn and winter, so leave a spare day in your plans.<\/p>\n Send these through the listing chat before you pay, so the answer is in writing:<\/p>\n On the last point, Hooked Malta welcomes children, ideally from 10 years old, which is about right for a boat where the main event is a fish that can outweigh an adult.<\/p>\n You do not need your own fishing licence on a Malta charter; the permits sit with the boat, and the listings say so. Bring sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen, a layer for the run home, and food if the trip is a long one. If you get seasick, take something the night before rather than on the jetty.<\/p>\n A bluefin released off Malta is still a bluefin caught. If that is the fish you want to feel on a rod, start with Hooked Malta’s trip page<\/a>, ask the captain how the season looks for your dates, and book the day that has the best weather window.<\/p>\nWhat a bluefin trip from Malta looks like<\/h2>\n
The fish you can keep on the same trip<\/h2>\n
When to go<\/h2>\n
What to ask the skipper before you book<\/h2>\n
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Before you go<\/h2>\n