A group of critically endangered eagle rays (100-150 individuals) was observed aggregating outside a tuna ranch in Malta, an extremely unusual occurrence. Footage from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) taken in October 2024 around a tuna ranch off the Northeast coast of Malta in has recorded the largest known gathering to date of this species. A study on their unusual appearance was published in the Marine Biodiversity journal this year.

Researchers said large aggregations of eagle rays are rarely observed. In this case, they highlighted that fresh food used to feed the bluefin had accumulated on the seabed below the cages and the rays were feeding there. Batoid fishes such as rays associating with tuna ranches have been previously documented from the Maltese Islands, the study said.

Picture: ROV footage of eagle rays swimming along the seabed below the tuna cage from which fish are falling.

Spain is reallocating 2,928 tons of unused 2026 Atlantic bigeye quota to vessels that have exhausted their allocations, drawing the surplus from Spanish boats unlikely to use their full quotas. The surplus can be used by Spain’s purse seiners, Canary Islands pole-and-line and artisanal fleets, surface longliners, and other boats catching bigeye as bycatch.

The announcement, published on the Spanish Fisheries Ministry site on September 4, stated that the government is “promoting the exploitation of fishing opportunities for this species in the area regulated by the ICCAT.” Furthermore, the mechanism addresses a past imbalance in which some vessels left quota unused while others exhausted their allocations before the end of the season and were forced to stop fishing.

A Cook Islands-flagged longliner owned by China-based Handfull Marine Co. Ltd. has been deregistered after the island nation’s High Court fined the vessel NZD 400,000 (USD 233,676) for illegal fishing and falsifying reports in June this year. Maritime Cook Islands, which administers the government’s international ship and yacht registry, confirmed the deregistration of the vessel ‘Kema,’ according to Cook Islands news sites.

The boat, currently not listed in the WCPFC Registered Fishing Vessels (RFV), is 32 meters long and has an 86 M/T fish hold capacity. It previously operated under the name ‘Oreyl’ and was flagged to Belize.