The annual two-day Tunarama festival – held at Port Lincoln in Australia – concluded on Saturday. Tunarama, which began on January 26, was back in full swing after a two-year break due to the COVID pandemic and was attended by thousands of people. Port Lincoln is known as the seafood capital of the country and for its biggest industry -- bluefin farming.

John Penny, a local, started the iconic festival in 1962. He was inspired to hold the 'tuna toss' activity after watching fishermen toss fish off their boats. This sporting event's record of 37.23 meters was set by former Olympic hammer thrower Sean Carlin in 1998. The participants threw real tunas until 2008 and then switched to rubber replicas. A spokesperson from the Tunarama committee said that many people participated in this year's event, reported ABC News.

Irish fishermen cannot catch Atlantic bluefin in the country's EEZ because no quota has been allocated under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Meanwhile, fleets from its counterpart EU nations land large volumes of the lucrative tuna that are sold in the international market at high prices, according to an Irish politician who firmly believes it's time to urge for a fairer share.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn pointed out that fishers on the Inishowen Peninsula in Nothern Ireland are not permitted to land a single bluefin despite the fish fattening off the Irish Coast. Over the past few years, researchers have found an abundance of bluefin owing to strict conservatory measures. “Irish boat owners are forced to sit in the harbor and watch as their EU neighbors from France and Spain land fish from Irish waters in Irish harbors, while benefiting from a fuel subsidy implemented by their governments on the back of a derogation given by the European Commission”, Lochlainn said in parliament, reported Derry Journal.

Dongwon Group has announced Eunhong Min is the new CEO of Dongwon Industries - the holding company of the fishing and seafood trading group. Min joined Dongwon Systems as its Vice President in April 2021 and became a part of the fishing section (owner of StarKist) later that year. Min, who worked at Procter & Gamble for more than 27 years, has a strong foothold in the marketing business and will likely steer Dongwon’s upcoming mergers and acquisitions.

On January 13, Atuna reported that Dongwon might be one of the possible candidates to buy the UK-based food business Princes Group (owned by Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation). Dongwon-owned StarKist appointed Chae-Ung Um as its new CEO, who took on his new role on January 1.