The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has said that several tuna species are recovering due to conservation efforts but stocks in certain oceans such as the Pacific...
Fishing
SKJ1.8:BKK Drops While Canners Are Hammered By Cost & Labor Challenges
The skipjack raw material price is clearly dropping in Bangkok but not fast enough for processors who are being hammered by various overhead costs such as exorbitant shipping rates and a hike...
Spanish Seiners Allowed To Share IO Yellowfin Quota
For the second year in a row, the Spanish fleet in the Indian Ocean (IO) will be allowed to share the country’s tuna quota. Boat owners fear that their vessels will fail to exhaust the...
Tuna Industry In Galicia Struggling To Spark Interest In Young People
The Spanish region of Galicia is struggling to get young people interested in becoming fishers. Currently, 65 percent of active sailors are of retirement age or higher, which in Spain is 65...
Family Business Goes For Controversial Atlantic Bluefin MSC Assessment
Another bluefin fishery has gone for MSC assessment which might stir up controversy just like last year. The Certification Assessment Body (CAB), DNV, announced on August 31 that Spanish...
WCPO 2020 Seiners Catches Fall By 9%, P&L Nosedived
Global tuna catches in 2020 were down mainly due to an 11 percent volume drop from the WCPO area. This was the result of lower purse seine skipjack landings as well as pole-and-line and...
Seychelles Combats IUU With High Fine For Sri Lankan Captain
Seychelles Supreme Court has fined the captain of a Sri Lankan-flagged longliner USD 167,000 for fishing in the nation’s waters without a license. On June 1, Mahalingam Kanapathi was arrested...
FADs For Super Seiners Cause Of IATTC Failure
The IATTC meeting finished last week and members did not manage to see eye-to-eye on new conservation measures for tropical tuna in the EPO. However, multiple sources that attended the meeting...
Major Global Tuna Highlights August
A lot happened in the tuna industry in the month of August. Prices of skipjack raw material increased in major trading hubs. IATTC’s meeting failed to reach a consensus for tuna stock measures...
Accused In Tuna Bonds Scandal Says He “Was Just A Facilitator”
The saga of the tuna bonds scandal in Mozambique continues as more details regarding embezzlement and money laundering among government officials and other related parties came to light during...
2020 Global Tuna Catches Down Six Percent
Overall tuna catches across the world fell in 2020 caused by a lower take from the biggest tuna fishing area, the WCPO. Disruptions in fishing operations due to COVID can be partly attributed...
IATTC Deal On FAD Reduction Blocked By Spanish Interests
IATTC members have once again failed to agree on conservation measures for tropical tuna in the EPO. The RFMO’s annual online meeting, which came to an end last Friday, represented the third...
Skipjack Catches Suspended From A Mexican Purse Seine MSC Certification
Part of the MSC certification of a Mexican tuna purse seine fishery has been suspended. Additionally, the same organization was recently denied a variation request that asked for more time to...
Indian Ocean Carriers Moving Skipjack To Ecuadorian Canners
The tuna catches in the Indian Ocean remain at the normal level expected in August and the inventory level of canneries in the region can be defined as moderate. Until recently, there has not...
ISSF: Support Vessels Should Also Have Onboard Observer Coverage
Purse seiners often utilize support vessels, also called auxiliary, supply, or tender, and they help to increase fishing efficiency and contribute to effort creep. However, there is a need to...
Seiner Chief Officer Turns YouTuber While 27 Months Onboard
Korean Kim Hyun-Moo has been on board for 27 months as Chief Officer on a tuna vessel owned by Sajo Group. The 27-year-old boarded the seiner in May 2019 without knowing it would be his home...
Marshall Islands Vaccinated 132 Tuna Sailors In One Day
Marshall Islands has officially reinstalled its vaccination program for tuna fishermen. From now on, all Fridays will be reserved for commercial sailors to get their jabs, informed the...
Thai Union’s New Tuna Commitment Leaning On FIPs, Despite High MSC Availability
Thai Union (TU) recently released a Tuna Commitment 2021 progress report which gives an overview of its next stage of work in terms of responsible tuna sourcing by 2025 and how its...
Will IATTC End Meeting Without Conservation Measures Again?
IATTC members are currently debating tropical tuna conservation measures for the period 2022-2024. While they had a fairly hopeful feeling going into this week’s meeting after the...
High Risk Piracy Areas In IO Reduced
Less piracy in the Indian Ocean (IO) has resulted in changes regarding the geographic boundaries of the waters considered High Risk Areas (HRA). Starting September 1, the HRA borders to the...