Ecuadorian police confirmed the arrests of four soldiers for their involvement in attempting to send over 400 kg of cocaine in a container with canned tuna in Guayaquil Port, heading to France via Belgium. Earlier this week, an investigation was carried out by the Ports and Airports Investigation Unit authorities, and they found twelve jute sacks containing 432 hidden blocks of drugs, which could be worth up to EUR 17 million on the black market. If found guilty of the crime, the perpetrators could face up to 26 years in jail.

The operation is part of the Ecuadorian authorities’ efforts to combat drug trafficking, which has been a long-standing problem affecting the export of tuna and other products from Guayaquil, one of the country’s main ports, reported Ecuadorian news sites. The government and the industry are aware of the issue, that has been one of the largest threats to the nation’s tuna trade, and have been taking steps to curb it. However, it remains a significant challenge.

The twelfth Anfaco World Tuna Conference will start in Vigo, Spain, on September 11 with a program of expert speakers featured in different sessions. The TunaVigo2025 app, which will aid attendees in navigating the two-day conference, is now available. It includes the program and speakers’ details and the option to add sessions to your agenda. Also, it gives opportunities to invite attendees to meet in the exhibition space, and much more. Registration for the Conference is still possible.

Before the conference begins, the Tuna Awards winners will be presented tomorrow. This third edition recognizes innovations in the tuna sector in three categories: New Products, Circular Economy, and Revolution 4.0.

IPNLF and Zeal Industries have joined forces in the field testing of the Uptime technology that enhances safety at sea and improves the operational efficiency of small-scale tuna fishing operations. Zeal Industries based in Hongkong has developed an affordable and wearable tracking device to save lives of fishermen at sea by recording their position. It aims to further develop this technique into an advanced real-time recording with accurate, high-resolution tracking data for fishing vessels. Scaling from pilots to ongoing application is the greatest hurdle for today’s technologies as small-scale fishing vessel owners has no financing to purchase, install, or maintain them.

Uptime uses low-cost satellite connections, making it one-tenth the cost of comparable maritime solutions, stated IPNLF. The benefit of the collaboration goes both ways. IPNLF has a global network of stakeholders in the fishing and seafood market which Zeal Industries can use to tailor Uptime to the specific needs of these fishers, maximizing its positive impact. Field trials are already underway with fleets in South Africa, Tanzania, and Japan. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership, which blends diverse expertise across the fisheries and technology sectors,” said Martin Purves, Managing Director of IPNLF.