An offshore accident has cost the lives of three helicopter crew members, when the machine failed to take off from a purse seiner. According to Ecuadorian sources, the tuna vessel was fishing...
Fishing
Philippines Tuna Sector To Meet After 2-Year Hiatus
The Philippines tuna sector will once again be gathering face-to-face this September after a two-year pause due to the global pandemic. The 22nd National Tuna Congress and Trade Exhibit will...
Brussels Not In Touch With Common Sense Over Purse Seine Fishing
The European tuna fishing industry has a serious bone to pick with EU authorities regarding the margin of tolerance regulation. The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) is the latest...
2021 One Of The Worst Years In A Decade For Seiner Captains
Recent data shows that 2021 was one of the worst catching years in a decade for WCPO seiner crews. There was already a decline in 2020 tuna catches but overall volumes fell even further in...
WCPFC Challenged On Vague Human Rights Language
Two NGOs want RFMOs to have clear and specific terms when it comes to crew rights. In a joint letter to the WCPFC, Human Rights at Sea (HRAS) and WWF have expressed their concerns regarding...
FAD Ban Effect Starts Pushing SKJ1.8:BKK Quotes Up
After two months of sluggish skipjack trading activity in Bangkok, the price for the whole round frozen raw material is seeing a slight increase due to rising demand from processors while the...
Holding Capacity Of EPO Seiners Reaches A Historic Peak
The EPO fleet's potential capacity has reached its highest level to date, but it is already almost fully utilized. The addition of several purse seiners and recently updated information on the...
Spanish Pole & Line Vessels Want Compensation
The Basque pole and line tuna fishing fleet that was restricted from fishing in Senegalese waters for five months are asking for financial compensation. As a consequence of the agreement...
Portuguese Fleet Banned From Fishing Bigeye
Portugal has consumed its assigned bigeye tuna fishing quota for the season. As of yesterday, its Atlantic fleet has been banned from fishing, carrying catch on board, transshipping and...
Madagascar’s New Deal With Japanese Tuna Fishers Raises Eyebrows
While still in negotiations with the EU over access to its tuna resources, the government of Madagascar has signed a new partnership agreement with the Japan Tuna Fisheries group. Unlike...
Spanish Pole & Liners Further Hit By Rising Fuel Costs
The current fishing season has been expensive for Spanish pole-and-line vessels targeting Bonito del norte and EU-flagged boats catching bluefin. Fuel prices in June once again increased in...
No Appetite For Tuna Fishing Licenses In Bay of Bengal
Companies continue to lack interest in tuna fishing in the Bay of Bengal citing the fish is seasonal and the high investment needed for acquiring vessels. Since April 2016, 17 firms have been...
Polluted Ghanaian Coastal Waters Are Hurting Local Tuna Industry
The Ghana Tuna Association (GTA) was established to improve the country's tuna sector and has now turned its attention to ocean pollution. Richster Nii Amarah Amarfio, Secretary of GTA, called...
Oman Blacklists IUU Tuna Longliners
In a complete turnabout, Oman has struck off three Omani-flagged longliners from its registry. In March, the country objected IOTC placing ‘ISRAR 1’, ‘ISRAR 2’ and ‘ISRAR 3’ on the RFMO’s IUU...
Still One-Third Of EPO Skipjack Sets Is On Free Schools, But Less Productive
Although most of the skipjack in the EPO is caught with FADs, close to a third of the 2021 volume was captured on free school sets. Meanwhile, seiner operators' use of FAD sets...
Continued High Carrier Volumes, But Half Of June’s Catch Still Unloaded
Purse seiners operating in the WCPO maximized their efforts on all their FADs before the ban kicked in, but carrier loadings in June at PNA ports declined from their peak level the month...
Costa Rica Passes Law Expanding No Purse Seine Fishing Zone
A new regulation prioritizing Costa Rican vessels over foreign tuna fleets has been approved by the country's parliament. The Legislature passed a bill to increase the area prohibited for...
Almadraba Closes With Record Catch
The Spanish traditional bluefin catching method in the Mediterranean, the Almadraba, concluded with a record-breaking catch of 2,330 M/T. The fishing season has officially ended after two and...
Massive Seiner Fishing Activity In PNG Waters During June
Many WCPO purse seine captains have been concentrating their fishing operations in the west of the Pacific by setting their nets in Papua New Guinea's waters and the high seas in June. This...
How Long Does It Take For Tuna To Gather Around A DFAD?
Using echo sounder buoys data and machine learning, Spanish scientists aimed to capture the general trends in tuna aggregation dynamics on a global scale. They found that the time for the fish...