Yellowfin tuna is back in the Eastern Bay of Plenty with a number of the game fish being spotted in the region in recent weeks.

Anglers throughout the North Island have been seeing and catching yellowfin.

A yellowfin tuna jumping out of the water.

Eastern Bay fisherman Rick Pollock says more yellowfin are being landed by rod and reel in New Zealand this season than in the last four or five years combined.

The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.

Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian ʻahi, a name also used there for the closely related bigeye tuna.

The species name, albacares ("white meat") can also lead to confusion: in English the albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) is a different species, while yellowfin is officially designated albacore in French and referred to as albacora by Portuguese fishermen.