fierce struggle while fishing off the West End.

He had caught a blackfin tuna with a wire sticking out of the back of its eyes and under the stomach.

It appeared the fish had snagged itself on a piece of discarded fishing wire some time ago.

But, incredibly, the tuna managed to survive, with its body simply growing over the wire.

"I was really amazed,'' said charter fisherman Mr. Edness, who made his surprise catch from a boat off Challenger Bank.

"I was surprised by the way the wire didn't impede the fish, and it was swimming about quite normally.

"It put up a big struggle when I caught it. It appeared very healthy and kicked about.'' Mr. Edness said he believed the 15-lb tuna had bitten into the wire -- used for catching wahoos -- as it was dropping to the bottom of the sea.

"Someone probably discarded it overboard. It just shows you what can happen, and how we should be careful about what we throw into the sea.

"I've heard about sharks surviving with rope and hooks attached to them, but not tunas.'' Mr. Edness said he hoped his catch would be of scientific interest, perhaps to Bermuda Biological Station.

"It would be interesting, for instance, to determine the growth rate of the tuna.'' ALL WIRED UP -- Fisherman Mr. Alan Edness shows off his surprise tuna catch yesterday.