After the alleged murder of a Kiribati observer on board a Taiwanese purse seiner, Greenpeace USA and the Association for Professional Observers (APO) have submitted a formal complaint to the...
Fishing
IOTC Starts Rescheduling Postponed Meetings
The IOTC informed its members that this year’s Total Allowable Catch (TAC) allocation meeting will be conducted through video conferencing via Zoom on September 15 and 16. Like many other RFMO...
Pacific Fisheries Observers Sent Home After Long Trip
Nine fisheries observers from several Pacific nations have finally reached home after a long journey due to COVID-19 measures preventing ease of flights between countries. They belong to the...
Fair Trade Indonesian Yellowfin Caught By Using Kites
Indonesia is one of the main producers of tuna globally. Its yellowfin handline sector is made up of many small-scale fisheries and this type of fishing is a major source of income for coastal...
New EU Project Aims To Reduce Seiners’ Fuel Consumption
Fuel represents around half of the operational costs for a tuna purse seiner. It not only leaves a hole in the wallet of boat owners but it is also costly for the environment as the global...
Three Navimon’s Longliners Launched From Vietnamese Shipyard
Piriou Vietnam has delivered the last three vessels of the eight tuna longliners that it was contracted to build for New Caledonia-based fishing vessel operator, Navimon. Three of the vessels...
29-Year Old Southern Bluefin Captured In Australia
A 29-year old Southern bluefin has been captured in the waters of Narooma, Australia. It was tagged back in 1994 by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)....
Test Of 771 BIOFADs In Indian Ocean Shows Their Efficacy
An AZTI report looked into the design and implementation of less invasive fishing methods using FADs with biodegradable materials. The authors concluded that BIOFADs have an efficient tuna...
Almadrabas Successful Despite COVID-19
After much uncertainty due to the strict COVID-19 measures in Spain, the Almadraba season went on as scheduled. In fact, by the end of the fishing period, these fishermen had harvested the...
Indo Crew Survivor Talks About Deadly Ordeal On Chinese Longliner
The account of the final days of the deceased Indonesian crew members on board Chinese tuna longliners, one of which was carrying out IUU fishing, presents a horrifying insight into the...
Building Of New Calvo Seiner Completed
The construction of the latest Calvo tuna purse seiner has been completed by the Vigo-based company, Construcciones Navales Paulino Freire (Freire Shipyard). The delivery of the boat is...
Supreme Court Annuls Rule Favoring Large Bluefin Cos
The Spanish Supreme Court has declared that a section of the Royal Decree published in 2019 that regulates bluefin fisheries in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea is...
Old Mauritania-EU Fishing Agreement Extended Once More
While talks to reach a new fishing protocol between the EU and Mauritania are still ongoing, both parties have agreed to extend the current treaty until November 15, 2021. This will allow the...
World Wise Foods CEO Says Report Funding Had “No Strings Attached”
The CEO of World Wise Foods, John Burton, has denied that the funding for a recent report by the non-profit Human Rights At Sea (HRAS) aimed at MSC and PNA over Pacific observer deaths had any...
Ecuadorian Packers And Fishers Worry About COVID-19 Fallout
Tuna producing countries are still uncertain of the extent of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world for the better part of 2020. In terms of the market, low demand and...
Taiwan’s 2019 Skipjack Catches Second-Highest On Record
The Taiwanese purse seiner fleet achieved the second-highest ever skipjack catches in the WCPO in 2019. This was just slightly lower than their highest peak 17 years ago. According to WCPFC...
FAD Ban Without Observers. What Do You Think?
The FAD ban in the WCPO started on July 1, but some parties are worried that it will not be effective without observer coverage to check if vessel operators are following the prohibition...
EU Indian Ocean Fleet Unlikely To Fill 2020 Yellowfin Quotas
On Wednesday, the quarantine period due to the coronavirus infection among the crew from African countries will end for the tuna vessels moored in Port Victoria, Seychelles. However, cheers...
Report Says Tuvalu Waters Best To Minimize FAD Bigeye Bycatch
Recent research has revealed that potentially the best EEZ to fish for skipjack while avoiding high levels of juvenile bigeye bycatch resulting from FAD sets in the Pacific is the island...
Will WCPFC FAD Ban Function Without Observers?
The FAD ban began on July 1 in the Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) and purse seiners are prohibited from fishing on such devices. But currently, there are almost no observers on board...