On Monday, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) put forth several proposals for discussion during the WCPFC annual meeting such as an updated analysis of a management procedure for skipjack and...
Fishing
End Of FAD Ban Sees WCPO Seiners Netting 40% More Tuna
With the FAD ban lifted, WCPO purse seiner operators caught 40 percent more tuna in October, driven by higher skipjack catches. As effort was intensified in the western zones of the ocean, PNG...
Is The Return Of WCPO Observers Feasible By January?
The safe return of observers on purse seiners per January 1 will be one of the topics discussed at the WCPFC annual meeting, but the question is, can the deadline be met? Manumatavai...
US Urges WCPFC To Put Climate Change On Agenda
The US urged WCPFC to discuss climate change and its impact on fisheries during its annual meeting that began on Sunday in Vietnam. As a member of the RFMO, US demanded that climate change be...
New Ammonia Plant At Sinaloa To Put Its Tuna At Risk
Plans for constructing an ammonia plant at Ohuira Bay in the Mexican state of Sinaloa are facing objections from many sides. The Swiss-German company, Proma, had announced its installation in...
Tuna Brands & Retailers Urge WCPFC To Adopt Harvest Strategy
More than one hundred tuna brands and retailers including Walmart, Aldi, Bolton Group, Edeka, Tesco, and Princes have urged the WCPFC to adopt and implement management procedures and harvest...
WCPO Longliners Experienced Poor Albacore Catches In 2021
In 2021, WCPO longliners had the lowest catches in nearly three decades and it comprised seven percent of total tuna tonnages taken by all gears in the region. These vessels did not experience...
How Record Yellowfin Catches Saved 2021 For WCPO Seiners
The world's largest and most productive tuna fishing ground, the WCPO, accounted for 54 percent of global captures (4.9 million tons) last year. In 2021, purse seiners experienced a fall in...
NGOs Demand Improved Labor Standards For Crews In WCPO
A group of WCPFC observer NGOs has given a joint statement regarding implementing measures to improve the working conditions of fishers. Crew safety is a major topic of discussion in the RFMO...
Contrary To IATTC Scientists, WWF Persists EPO Skipjack Is Not Green
WWF Europe has conducted a new fishery assessment for skipjack in the EPO. The initiative came on the heels of the results of the IATTC stock assessment, which showed that the species is...
New Tuna Mural In Galician Port Town Upsets Locals
City council officials at the Galician port town of Burela are being criticised over a new mural of an unveiled scaffolding at a neighbourhood near Eijo Garay Street. Remodelling is being...
TU Assesses IO Longliners At Sea For Crew Welfare
Thai Union (TU) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure safe working and welfare conditions for crews on board longline vessels in the Indian Ocean. The company partnered with MRAG to...
New Device Helps To Reduce Longline Shark & Ray Bycatch
New technology developed by Fishtek Marine, ‘SharkGuard’, will help reduce blue shark and pelagic ray bycatch in longline fisheries without impacting the targeted tunas. The device...
Mazatlan Fishers Demand Revamp Of Fishing Sector
The fishing sector in Mazatlan, Mexico, is going through one of its darkest times. Catches have been dipping since the beginning of this year, and reportedly, tuna and...
Bangkok Skipjack Market Waits For What Is To Come
A crisis in the Philippine tuna business and the expectation of larger skipjack quantities to arrive in Bangkok have perpetuated reluctance in the tuna trade among buyers and purse seine...
Europêche And Orthongel Denounce “Militant NGOs” Disinformation Campaign
Europêche and Orthongel have hit back at activist NGOs, Bloom and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), for their "slanderous remarks" over Anne-France Mattlet. Since March, she is the Director...
Seiners Switch Off AIS To Hide From Pirates
A new study examined the intentional disabling of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) in commercial fisheries. This often happened in four hot spots near the EEZs of West African nations,...
EU To Review Ecuador’s Yellow Card In Two Weeks’ Time
Ecuador has been working relentlessly to improve its fisheries management and have its EU yellow card lifted (assigned in October 2019). The EU is set to carry out a new review within two...
Bloom Accuses EU Fishing Organizations Of Influencing Fisheries Negotiation
French environmental NGO, BLOOM, and campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) have formally complained to EU authorities over the appointment of Anne-France Mattlet in European...
OPAGAC Pushes ICCAT To Strictly Monitor Asian Fleets
OPAGAC has called out Asian fleets for fishing extensively in Atlantic waters. They raised this issue at the RFMO annual Commission meeting taking place in Portugal. The group representing...