The Somalian government has granted 31 fishing licenses to China, allowing the China Overseas Fisheries Association, which represents 150 companies, to fish for tuna in Somali waters.

Local fishermen, as well as some environmental groups. have raised concerns over depletion of stocks and competition against the Chinese fleet.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) discovered a high amount of mercury in yellowfin fillets from Spain.

The shipment of frozen yellowfin tuna fillets was stopped at the border of Italy and placed on alert. The sample was found to have 1.6mg/kg of mercury, this is 160 percent higher than the maximum amount set by the European Union’s Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for tuna which is 0.1 mg/kg.

The product has now been withdrawn from the market.

The European Council has published their Autonomous Tariff Quota (ATQ) for 2019- 2020. The quota allows for an amount of 30,000 M/T of “fillets known as ‘loins’ of tunas and skipjacks for processing.”