Takitimu Seafoods boat brings in massive 230kg tuna off Hawke's Bay coast

Takitimu Seafoods workers have given the company a huge start to its rebranded life, hauling in a 230kg Northern Blue Fin Tuna worth up to $100,000.

Steve Harvey, skipper of the boat Danielle, said it was a good feeling being able to pull up the giant tuna off the Hawke's Bay coast along with another 135kg fish.

An average size tuna caught would normally weigh between 40kg and 60kg.

"I've been doing it for 28 years and I still get a real buzz when we get something like this," Harvey said.

"It's a real morale booster for the crew."

The 230kg tuna was partially chopped up, but it was still a sight to behold as was loaded on the truck. Photo / Warren Buckland

Fishing about 160 kilometres off the coast near the Lachlan Banks, he said they were quite lucky to be able to bring in a fish of this size.

"It's normally these couple of months between March and April when we see the bigger fish, but they are normally too powerful and strong for our gear to compete with them.

"Lucky for us this one was getting a lot older in age, probably around 30 years old, and made it a hell of a lot easier for us to bring it in."

Company general manager Marcus D'Esposito said bagging the massive tuna was "a great start to life for Takitimu Seafoods".

First mate Mike Dean and skipper Steve Harvey work to keep the massive Tuna under ice. Photo / Warren Buckland

Earlier this year Ngāti Kahungunu bought Hawke's Bay Seafoods, of which it had been a shareholder for many years, and has subsequently rebranded it. The official reopening took place on Monday.

D'Esposito said it was impossible to know the exact amount they would get for the fish because it all comes down to how the market is on the day.

"Now we will send the fish to the factory where we will process them and package them to send it off to Japan.

"Within 24 hours these fish will be at a Japanese fish market being sold and it all comes down to what the price is on the day to see what we get, it could be anything between $10,000 and $100,000, but by the look of fish it could be worth a bit."

The crew is on a percentage wage, which means they earn what they catch, so the more fish and the bigger they are the more they will earn.

But for Harvey he only has a few days to celebrate the haul and then he and his crew will be back on the boat on Saturday.

"Who knows, we might get lucky again?"