Due to the coronavirus crisis, RFMOs have had to cancel or reschedule their meetings and even switch to online video conferences to discuss various tuna industry issues. There is no doubt that...
Fishing
Readers: US Importers Not The Ones To Detect IUU Tuna
US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (STIMP) does not include any measures to verify the provided data for the caught tuna. So, the responsibility to check whether the product was legally...
Cook Islands’ Undersea Mining Poses Danger To Tuna
An environmental report has said that Cook Islands’ increased interest in undersea mining operations is a cause for concern as it could be detrimental to sea beds and ocean life and in this...
Ghana Forced To Back Down On Approval Of Light Fishing
The use of lights to attract and catch live bait for tuna pole-and-liners in Ghana was legal for just one month until the Fisheries Commission recently reversed its April decision. The...
Hawaiian Fishermen Stuck At Port Claim Lack Of Aid
As in many regions of the world, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaii’s markets and restaurants are shut down, which is affecting the tuna sales of the country’s longliners. They have been...
Tuna Trends On Social Media
The Atuna team has surfed different social media platforms looking for the trendiest tuna-related activities. COVID-19 dominates today’s reality in the world and also in the tuna industry....
Tunisia Adds Another Tuna Vessel To Its Fleet
Despite the obstacles posed by COVID-19, the largest tuna fishing vessel ever built in the city of Mahdia, Tunisia, was finished this week. The shipyard in charge of the task was Art Naval, an...
Tuna Seiners Among Least Sulfur Polluters
It has been five months since the sulfur cap limit under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) came...
Mexican Tuna Seiners Crew Suspected Of COVID-19
Two tuna vessels with suspected COVID-19 crew arrived last week in the port of Mazatlan, Mexico. The test results performed on all the fishermen on board the vessels are expected today. So...
EU Gives Malta 4 Months To Comply With Fishing Regulations
In a letter of formal notice sent to Malta, the European Commission (EC) has given the country a deadline of four months to address any shortcomings in order to comply with fishing control,...
Last Communication Of Alleged Murdered Observer Revealed
The last communication between Kiribati observer, Eritara Aati Kaierua – who was found dead aboard the Taiwanese seiner ‘Win Far 636’ – and his family has been revealed. “I love you all and...
Friend Of The Sea Certifies Australian Southern Bluefin Association
All the brands associated with the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association (ASBTIA) can now display the Friend of the Sea logo on their products as the accreditation entity...
Aussie Tuna Industry Asks Govt To Quit Pestering China
Tuna exporters in South Australia have criticized the rhetoric of their country’s politicians against China stating that it will hurt their business with the Asian economic giant. Australian...
China Building Three New Tuna Longliners
The construction of three Chinese tuna longliners is moving forward, as the hulls of the boats were closed a couple of weeks ago. They are expected to be completed in October. The vessels are...
EU Parliament Approves ICCAT’s Broadened Scope On Sharks
On May 13, the European Parliament approved a protocol to amend and broaden the scope of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). A major change will be the...
EPO Q1 Tuna Catch Highest In Decades
Tuna catches in the EPO are better than ever. IATTC data for the first quarter of 2020 revealed record-high volumes since the RFMO started posting this information online in 2007. Fleets in...
Solomon Islands’ Longliners Battle IUU Fishing With E-Monitoring
The government of Solomon Islands is working with the Spanish engineering firm, Satlink, for a new project to better monitor and manage its tuna longline fishery electronically. Through this...
New Isolation Area For COVID-19 Fishermen In Manta
To better cope with the number of COVID-19 patients in Manta, a new isolation area has been built. Twenty fishermen, currently in quarantine on board their respective fishing vessels three...
Fishermen With COVID-19 Symptoms Dock In Galápagos Islands
In Ecuador - one of the countries hardest-hit by the COVID-19 virus in South America - fishermen on board tuna vessels have been reported to have symptoms related to the virus. Last week, a...
Atuna Poll: Can US Importers Verify Non-IUU Caught Tuna?
In 2018, NOAA established the US Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to prevent IUU caught fish from entering the American market. This measure comprises compliance for 13 fish species...