In December 2019, the 125-meter long tuna carrier 'Sea Mark' caught fire while sailing in the Pacific region, 160 miles from the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. Its owner, Chinese Shandong...
Fishing
VDS Only Safe Source Of Income For Pacific Island Countries
The global pandemic has impacted island nations in the Pacific - with tourism and trade being heavily affected. Despite this, the income from tuna licenses remains a very stable source of...
EU Appoints New Director-General For DG Mare
The office of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG Mare) of the European Commission (EC) has a new Director-General. Since June 1, the Bulgarian Charlina Vitcheva has taken on the position,...
Solomon Islands’ P+L Fleet Disappearing
The Solomon Islands’ pole-and-line tuna fishery has massively shrunk over the past few decades, both in the number of vessels and in volume harvested. As a matter of fact, in 2019, these boats...
How Will WCPO FAD Ban Affect SKJ1.8:BKK?
The FAD ban for the tropical purse seine fishery in the EEZs and the high seas of the WCPO region began today and it will last until September 30. This prohibition usually causes the supply of...
Zhoushan Tuna Plant Construction Delayed By COVID-19
Shanghai Kaichuang Marine International Co. Ltd. (SKMI) has announced that it will be extending the construction period for its tuna processing plant by seven months due to the global...
Iran Accused Of Massively Plundering Somalia’s Tuna Stock
The Somalian government has revealed that a massive number of unauthorized Iran-flagged vessels have been fishing illegally in the African country’s tuna-rich waters and evidence shows that it...
NGO-Driven Study Does Not Consider Major Tuna Initiatives
A recently released seafood report by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation says that tuna fisheries have seen improving management through various NGO initiatives in the supply chain...
50% Of IO Spanish Seiners Anchored Due To COVID-19
The COVID-19 cases among the fishermen in the Spanish fleets operating in Seychelles keep growing. As a result of this, multiple purse seiners have been forced to stop fishing and are...
Pesca Azteca Bought Three Herdez Tuna Vessels
Last week, Mexican tuna fishing and processing firm, Pesca Azteca, announced that it has acquired part of the tuna division of Herdez Group. This included the acquisition of the boats --...
Search For Kidnapped Korean Seiner Crew Continues
The search for the five South Koreans and one Ghanaian kidnapped last week from the tuna purse seiner ‘Panofi Frontier’ is still ongoing. On June 24, at about 1400 hours, the...
Virus Infected Crew Members Arrived In Seychelles
During the crew rotation for the Spanish tuna companies operating in Seychelles, nine COVID-19 infected fishermen arrived in the island country. And according to President Danny Faure, these...
Dancing Tuna & More Trends On Social Media
The Atuna team spotted some fantastic tuna trends on social media. The COVID-19 pandemic is relaxing in some parts of the world and World Oceans Day was celebrated on June 8. An amazing...
Captain & Crew Kidnapped From Seiner Off Nigerian Coast
At about 2pm on Wednesday, the Ghanaian-flagged tuna purse seiner, ‘Panofi Frontier’, was hijacked by suspected Nigerian pirates and five fishers and the captain were kidnapped. The attack...
Request For Feds To Check If CO Treated Tuna Coming Into US
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) said it will ask the federal Seafood Trade Task Force to evaluate all impacts of foreign-sourced fishery products on...
COVID-19 Measures New Normal For Ecuadorian Tuna Industry
One of the biggest challenges that the Ecuadorian tuna industry is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the uncertainty of what is to become of the world’s markets to which it exports its...
Maldivian Govt Has Exclusivity In P&L FADs
The Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery can be an excellent example for other coastal states looking to develop and support their domestic small-scale markets, according to the latest...
CLS To Test Prototype Beacons To Locate Lost Gear
CLS, a French satellite systems operator, will test prototype beacons on fishing gears this summer to help track them. These devices will be connected to the company’s satellite location and...
Nauru Explosively Increasing Fleet With Re-Flagged Seiners
The Pacific island nation of Nauru has been sharply increasing its tuna purse seiner fleet in the last couple of years, many of them coming from PNG. The tiny country is known for its...
Basque Tuna Companies In Seychelles To Rotate Fishers
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changing crew members on board purse seiners has been a challenge for many boat owners. The Spanish tuna fishing companies operating in Seychelles' waters will be...