Around 50 percent of the Ecuadorian purse seine fleet will stop fishing and return to port in just a few days. Their halt comes at a time when catch statistics show significantly low skipjack...
Fishing
St Helena: Investors Wanted To Back Underperforming Tuna Sector
St Helena’s government has called on investors to support its fledgling tuna sector. The announcement reveals plans to capitalize on the island’s history of pole-and-line tuna fishing, which...
IN BRIEF: Wicked Tuna Star Dies Aged 28
Nicholas “Duffy” Fudge, star of National Geographic’s reality television series Wicked Tuna has passed away at age 28. Duffy was a key figure in the series, which followed pole-and-line...
Fiji Aims To Cut Millions In Losses Through IUU Agreement
Fiji is the latest nation to sign the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) in a stance against illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing (IUU). Having previously expressed interest in the...
OPAGAC Defends FAD Use & Impact Of ”Incidental Catch”
The representative of the Spanish purse seine fleet, OPAGAC, has defended fishing on FADs with them resulting in a “very small incidental catch rate”. The organization has backed this view...
Taiwan Accused Of Slow Progress On Vital Labor Issues
Taiwan may be taking baby-steps in heightening labor rights in its fisheries industry, but progress is still too slow, according to local and international labor advocates. The country’s labor...
EU Lifts PNA Nation’s IUU Yellow Card
The European Commission DG Mare today made the decision to lift the PNA nation of Tuvalu’s yellow card warning on IUU, having recognized the “important progress” of the country in addressing...
IN BRIEF: StarKist Donates USD 100,000 To Children’s Charity
US canned tuna brand, Starkist has made a USD 100,000 contribution to the charity Feed the Children and will donate tuna and other seafood products to its community events. Starkist stated...
Vietnam Takes IUU Focus Away From Blue Boats
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam has ordered for GPS devices to be taken off small fishing boats and instead be installed on larger, offshore vessels. This...
ICCAT Warned: Radical Measures Needed To Save Bigeye
The management of Atlantic bigeye tuna stocks are again under review, with two meetings taking place to discuss the future of the species’ population and exploitation. Bigeye stocks are...
Chinese Destroy Vessels To Counter IUU
In the fight against IUU activity, Chinese authorities have employed an audacious approach to deterring illegal fishing. A dozen vessels caught partaking in IUU have been confiscated and...
US Seiners More Focused On WCPO, Less Ocean Switching
With US flagged purse seiners registered to fish in both the WCPO and EPO, their fishing activity has been spread across both of these ocean regions for the last few years. This year however...
IN BRIEF: Stranded Crew Saved After Vessel Explosion
Fishermen saved the lives of four crew members stranded 20 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, after their boat exploded, and were pulled through the tuna door. According to the...
IN BRIEF: Kiribati-Flagged Purse Seiner Adrift in WCPO
A 1,500 ton Kiribati-flagged purse seiner, the Mamautari, went adrift in the Western Central Pacific due to engine trouble on the 15th of July. The vessel belongs to Kiribati & Sajo...
EU Fleet Blocked From Morocco EEZ As Agreement Expires
The EU fleet is currently unable to fish in Morocco’s waters following the expiration of a fishery agreement between the two parties. Although the blockage is likely to be temporary, it is...
Tuna Exempt From Ghana’s Emergency Fishing Ban
Ghana has imposed a closed season on the fishing of all species in its waters, except tuna. The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye, said the ban was...
Major Chinese Firm Invests $62 Million In New Seiners
One of China’s biggest fishing and processing companies Shanghai Kaichuang has announced the purchase of three new tuna purse seiners by its wholly-owned subsidiary. This comes shortly after...
NZ Authorities Examine Fishing Industry Workers’ Rights
The New Zealand Labor Inspectoriate has called for the seafood industry to “start looking at itself”, following the persecution of a Japanese tuna longliner in New Zealand waters, that was...
Costa Rican Shrimp Fishermen To Switch To Tuna
The Costa Rican government has announced plans to promote “sustainable” tuna fishing and get local fishermen previously involved in shrimp trawling to catch tuna. A number of tuna fishing...
Purse Seine Helicopter Crash Kills Two
Two men have died in a helicopter crash near PNA nation Nauru. The incident is still under investigation, as the cause is not yet known. The helicopter, which works alongside a Taiwanese purse...