Pacific bluefin tuna has officially been added to the IUCN ‘red list’ of species at risk of extinction, as announced at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia. While Pacific...
Fishing
ICCAT Quota Increase Sparks Mixed Feelings
Emerging from week long negotiations in Genoa, Italy, the delegates of more than 50 governments have announced the ICCAT decision to increase Atlantic bluefin tuna catch quotas; a conclusion...
ICCAT Urged To Take Action On IUU Vessels
ICCAT was urged to up its game on IUU last week, as the Commission met for its annual session in Italy. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) was...
Why AIS May Not Be Quite ‘The Holy Grail’
Recent developments in the fight against IUU fishing have pointed towards something of a ‘savior’ - Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), which when turned on can transmit vessel information...
Albatross Mortality Reduction Fails, Japanese Longliners Blamed
Recent attempts by Australia to push Japanese southern bluefin fishers into reducing albatross mortality has failed, despite clear evidence that the bird’s mortality rate rose 300 percent last...
Sapmer Relocates Seiners To Recover Losses
The administration of French tuna fishing company, Sapmer, announced last week in Concarneau, France, that by Autumn 2015 its Réunion based fleets will be relocating their tuna fishing...
EU ‘Monster Boats’ Linked To Kiribati Food Security
A number of super seiners from the EU listed in an NGO report are said to threaten the food security of Pacific nations, as many of these countries’ fishermen rely on tuna stocks in nearby...
Spanish Fleet Calls For Closing Loopholes On Shark Finning
The Spanish fleet is getting serious on putting a stop to shark finning, as it calls on ICCAT members to close the loopholes that allow it to continue happening. Together, Cepesca and...
F.C.F. Gets FOS Certification For Its FAD Fisheries
As one of the two biggest tuna traders in the world, Taiwanese-based F.C.F., will now be able to slap the Friend of the Sea (FOS) sustainable seafood eco-label on its FAD-caught skipjack tuna...
EPO Seiners Struggle To Find Skipjack
Tuna fishermen in the EPO are struggling to find enough skipjack this year, with volumes showing a significant decline on 2013 landings. In fact, in the first nine months of 2014, skipjack...
FEDs Lift Ban On US Pacific Bluefin Fishing
Large-scale fishing for Pacific bluefin tuna is to be re-allowed in the US, as the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reverses its decision to close the fishery on September 5th this...
PNA Officials Address “Serious Technical Issues” Of VDS
This week, officials and Ministers from the PNA came together in Tuvalu, with a jam-packed agenda of issues to discuss. As talks were focused on the region’s Vessel Day Scheme (VDS), according...
Google Gets Involved In Combatting IUU
The world’s largest search engine corporation, Google, is in the process of launching a free online vessel tracking system, with which the public will be able to see fishing vessels on a map...
French President Meets Pacific Leaders On Regional Action
As the EU gets hot on building stronger ties with Pacific nations, French President, Francois Hollande, heads to New Caledonia to meet the region’s leaders. Pacific Island leaders and visiting...
EU Mission Evaluates PNG Progress On Removal Of Yellow Card
Just last week, an EU technical mission was launched in Port Moresby, discussing the progress that PNG had made in addressing the EU’s IUU fisheries concerns with the nation. As part of the...
Is EPO Fishing Ban Doing The Trick On Bigeye?
From January 1st to June 1st this year, bigeye catch in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO), by both purse seine and pole and line vessels was recorded at a modest, yet significant 4.6 percent...
Taiwanese Fleet Fears To Be Banned from Indonesian Waters
Taiwan will be negotiating fishery management with Indonesia, in the hope that the Indonesian Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources does not end up banning Taiwanese vessels from the...
AIS Systems A Success in Fijian MSC Fishing
A Fijian based fishing company, Sea Quest Fiji Ltd., has recently reported on the successes of installing Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) back in 2013. However, having received the AIS...
Can Fisheries Of A Red Card IUU Nation Be Certified Sustainable? What Did You Think?
IUU fishing – illegal operations said to rip the oceans of their resources, depleting fish stocks and destroying marine habitats. The EU regulation to deter such activity came into force in...
“Processors Should Be Pressured To Refuse FAD-Caught Tuna”
As part of a recently announced regulation by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), longline operators in Hawaii could benefit from the allowance of a bigeye quota transfer between US...