The US seafood processor, Phillips Foods, will be rolling out a new refrigerated seafood line that includes Wild Caught Yellowfin Tuna. The fish is pole-and-line caught and the product will retail at USD 7.99 (EUR 7.40) for an eight-ounce (226 g) package. This range also features the Seafood Mix and Gourmet Baby Clams.

According to the company, consumers can eat the proteins straight out of their containers. The items will be showcased at the upcoming Seafood Expo North America 2020 from March 15 to 17.

In Spain, Rianxeira’s light tuna line has been awarded the Flavour of the Year 2020 in the Sustainable category. Rianxeira is owned by the Spanish canned seafood company Jealsa. The products that will display this award logo are light tuna in ECO sunflower oil, extra-ECO virgin olive oil, and mineral water. They are also MSC certified.

The Flavour of the Year awards are given out by a panel of 80 consumers who through a blind sensory test score the products from a scale of 1 to 10 for flavor, look, smell, texture, and overall satisfaction. The product with the highest grade above 6 wins. The Sustainable category is tested by consumers who usually eat sustainable products.

Two Maltese tuna farms have been ordered to release some illegally held bluefin back into the ocean after they exceeded the 2019 quota of just under 2,300 M/T. This happened after the ranchers AJD Tuna Ltd and Fish and Fish lost two separate court cases they had brought against the government in an attempt to keep the fish.

The bluefin in question, which were caught with purse seiners, are currently in cages as the companies exceeded the allowable bluefin in their farms. The ranches intended to harvest the bluefin but the court stated that this could only be done with tuna in farms and not those in purse seine nets. Hence, it claimed that tuna have been holding an illegal status since September 2019, when they were caught.