The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food is confident that the first edition of Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona will take off. Last year, the vast majority of tuna and seafood trade shows were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The third edition of Atuna’s Americas Tuna Conference was one of the few to take place in person in February 2020.

However, with vaccinations rolling out and with over a year of practice with virtual events, trust in trade shows is growing. The Spanish Ministry has ratified and modified an agreement signed last year with the aquaculture group Acuiplus so that it can take part in the upcoming event either in person or virtually. The event is scheduled to take place from September 7 to 9, 2021 

Malaysian tuna ports are not as competitive as others in the Indian Ocean region, said Dr Ronald Kiandee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI). Currently, tuna is being landed in the harbors of Penang and Langkawi. He said that the government is reviewing the development of another tuna port, the Batu Maung Jetty, to boost this sector. Malaysia has been trying to boost the industry for decades.

The country has a total of 19 tuna fishing vessels and one carrier operating in the IO. In 2020, Penang Port recorded 1,943 M/T of tuna worth MYR 28 million (USD 6.7 million), reported Bernama. Malaysia has more landings of neritic tuna such as tongol and kawakawa than skipjack. According to IOTC, its vessels caught around 87,400 M/T of neritic tuna in 2019 within its EEZ in 2019.

The owner of the plant-based tuna and seafood replacement brand Good Catch, Gathered Foods, announced yesterday that it secured USD 26.35 million in funding. The investors include Louis Dreyfus Company, Unovis Asset Management, and Big Idea Ventures, reported The Spoon. Counting the previous investments, the firm has raised more than USD 75 million to date.

Good Catch is in a distribution partnership with Bumble Bee and the latter’s CEO, Jan Tharp, joined the board of Gathered Foods. Currently, the plant-based products are being distributed in the US, Canada, as well as some EU markets. The company has said that the new funding will aid in boosting product innovation, increasing the number of products it offers, and fuel international retail expansion.