Purse seiners continued their excellent catches in November 2023 and were benefiting from the ending of the WCPO FAD ban. For the seventh month in a row, most of the catch was made in Kiribati...
Fishing
Namibian High Court Acquits Tuna Fishing Company Of IUU Charges
The Namibian High Court has vindicated Nata Fishing Enterprise of illegal fishing and human trafficking accusations. Two of its tuna vessels, ‘Shang Fu’ and ‘Nata 2’ were seized by the...
Study Reveals 75% Of Global Fishing Activity Is Not Publicly Tracked
A group of researchers recently pointed out in the paper ‘Satellite mapping reveals extensive industrial activity at sea’ that “human activities at sea are not well quantified.” The study...
Nauterra Postpones Construction Of New Seiner
The current difficult situation in the EU tuna fishing sector and lower consumer demand in Spain caused Nauterra (formerly Grupo Calvo) to postpone the building of a new purse seiner. In 2019,...
Filipino Tuna Fisher Rescued After Week Of Ordeal In South China Sea
A Filipino tuna fisherman survived eight days at sea by drinking rainwater and eating the fish he caught. The survivor, 31-year-old Rosalon Frans Cayon, was rescued by a Chinese fishing boat...
Multimillion-Dollar Funds Will Not End Spanish Fishing
When questioned about how the new year will look for Spanish fisheries and whether this industry will end, Javier Garat, Secretary General of Cepesca, answered with a forceful no. In his...
Wofco Further Expands Tuna Fleet Buying Seiners From Sapmer
French fishing company Sapmer sold two of its seiners to Spanish Worldwide Fishing Company (Wofco). The Mauritius-flagged ‘Belle Rive’ and ‘Belle Isle’ operating in the Indian Ocean will soon...
Spanish Maritime Electronics Pioneer Luis Arbulu Liz Passed Away At 88
The founder of Grupo Arbulu, Luis Arbulu Liz, passed away at the age of 88 on January 1. The Group specializes in maritime electronics and satellite communications and consists of nine...
ICCAT FAD Ban Continues To Stir African Tuna Industry
On January 1, the fifth 72-day FAD closure began for tuna vessels operating in the Atlantic Ocean and it will last until March 13. There is some controversy within the African tuna industry...
Julio Morón New President Of CEPESCA
The Spanish boat owner’s association Cepesca has chosen Julio Morón as its new President as of December last year after his predecessor decided to retire voluntarily. Morón, who had been the...
Chilean Navy Deploys Submarine To Curb IUU Fishing In Easter Island
The Chilean Navy announced that it recently deployed one of its submarines to monitor IUU fishing in the South Pacific Ocean. Chile alleges that illegal tuna and other seafood vessels...
Year In Review: 2023
2023 was a year of serious ups and downs for the global tuna industry. Trading for skipjack raw material fluctuated wildly due to low catches in all oceans, especially in WCPO. One of the...
Philippine Skipjack Landings Continued To Dwindle In Q3
Philippines flagged vessels’ tuna catches in the first nine months of 2023 fell sharply by 18 percent compared to the previous year, pushed down by poor skipjack and frigate volumes. Landings...
Viral Video Of Bluefin Catching Prey And Other Social Media Trends
The video of an Atlantic bluefin jumping out of the water to catch its prey is going viral on social media. The approximately five second-clipping posted by wildlife photographer Henry...
Seiner Helicopter Falls Into Sea In Mazatlán
A helicopter which helps spot tuna for a purse seiner fell into the water near Baja Ferries in Mazatlán, Mexico. No serious injuries were reported in this incident, which occurred at 9.30...
IO Tuna Made Up 7% Of EU 2022 Catch
Last year, 3.4 million tons of fish were caught by EU-flagged vessels. Indian Ocean-caught tuna made up almost seven percent of this total, revealed a report by Eurostat. This means that...
Seychelles Longliners Caught More Tuna At Greater Effort
The semi-industrial longliners in Seychelles caught 17 percent more tuna in the third quarter than last year but had to make a greater effort to find and hook the fish. The Seychelles Fishing...
Tuna Veteran Robert Buehs Passed Away
The global tuna industry has lost another well-known veteran. Former CEO and President of Miramar Fish Company, Robert Buehs, recently passed away. He was 76 years old. He ran the cannery...
Bangladesh Aims To Expand Its Tuna Fishing Sector
Bangladesh is eyeing on expanding its tuna fisheries sector. The government has been carrying out a pilot project for the past three years to conduct an in-depth study of tuna fishing. The...
Indian Ocean Tuna Catch Disastrous, Drives Up Price
Purse seiners continue to catch tuna in the Indian Ocean but their efforts are having dismal outcomes since hardly any fish have been landed in recent weeks. The processing plants in the...