The Atuna team is always on the lookout for interesting social media tuna issues and trends. This time we stumbled upon a tuna making an air trip in the claws of a bird flying over Myrtle...
Tuna Fishing News
Drones Back Patrolling Mediterranean Fishing Activities
The ‘Lundy Sentinel’, the surveillance vessel of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), left the Port of Vigo, Spain – also the EFCA headquarters – for its next mission with drone...
China Claims Developing Status To Continue Subsidizing Its Fleets
The World Trade Organization (WTO) resumed its talks to end harmful fishing subsidies on July 21, for tuna seiner and longline fleets as well as all other vessels targeting various species....
Costa Rica Govt Joins Forces With Global Fishing Watch
A new agreement between the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (Incopesca) and Global Fishing Watch (GFW) has been signed. It is a step forward in the fight against IUU in the...
Grupomar Longliner Sunk To Create Artificial Reef
It took five hours for the ‘El Diamante’, a former tuna longliner of the GrupoMar fleet, to assume its new role at the bottom of the ocean as an artificial reef just 18 km from the coast of...
Kidnapped Korean Seiner Crew Released After A Month
The six crew members kidnapped after the seiner ‘Panofi Frontier’ was highjacked on June 24 have been released after a month in captivity. According to the Foreign Minister of Korea, they were...
Illegal Trawling Might Jeopardize Blameless Ghana Tuna Sector
An NGO report regarding illegal seafood ending up in the European markets might land Ghana in hot water with EU authorities. Even though catches from the trawling fleet such as sardinella are...
Albacore Season Officially Started In France
The first tuna vessels of the fishing season in Lorient, France, came back to port at the beginning of the week. The ‘Marie-Lou’ and the ‘Menawan’ docked with 22 M/T of albacore tuna, three...
Foreign Owned Solomon-Flagged Seiners Attain Peak Catch
Solomon Islands-flagged vessels had a record number of skipjack catches in 2019 in the WCPO, increasing the overall amount by 21 percent from the previous year. According to WCPFC data,...
Massive MPA Not Hurting Hawaiian Longline Industry
In June, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation lifting fishing restrictions in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument located in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then,...
Book Unveils How World’s Largest Tuna Power Was Created
What can only be called an essential book for the tuna industry has just been released. Fishing for Success: Lessons In Pacific Regionalism tells the story behind the inception of the PNA, the...
Ivory Coast Pole & Line Breaking Into EU Fresh Market
The local pole-and-line industry in Ivory Coast is rather young, but it has been steadily developing since its inception about ten years ago. This is what Thibault Artus, Export Manager of...
PNG-Based Vessels’ Catches Drop Sharply After Years Of Growth
After three consecutive years of growth in total tuna catches by the PNG-flagged seiner fleet in the WCPO, 2019 experienced a sharp decline. The WCPFC data shows that last year PNG-based...
China Ignoring Indonesia’s Witness Request In Fishers’ Death Probe
Indonesian authorities’ effort to hold those involved in the death of four local fishermen accountable is being held back by China, which seems to be reluctant to aid in the investigation. The...
Bad Luck For Portuguese Tuna Vessels In Vigo
During an inspection at the fish market of O Berbés in Vigo, Spain, the country's Civil Guard seized 30 M/T of tuna from two Portuguese-flagged vessels which were docked in the city's port....
Spanish Fleet To Fish In Cook Islands’ Waters During Deal Negotiations
The first round of negotiations for the renewal of the EU-Cook Islands fisheries agreement took place on July 16. Both parties agreed to extend the current protocol which is set to expire on...
Fewer Spanish WCPO Catches Reaching Manta
Catches for Spanish-flagged tuna purse seiners in the WCPO have continuously declined for three years in a row due to fewer vessels. Thus, less raw material is being landed in Manta from these...
Will COVID-19 Result In Fewer Tuna Catches In 2020?
The coronavirus pandemic has recently affected tuna seiners operating in the Indian and Eastern Pacific Oceans with infection among the crews. Consequently, the catches of fleets in these...
Teen Fishers Reel In Tuna Over 300kg
Last week, three American teenagers spent seven long hours battling a tuna and successfully landed the 700-pound behemoth (318 kilograms) off the coast of Maine. It was nearly three meters...
Readers: No Observer Coverage Will Tempt Vessels To Break Rules
The results of the latest Atuna poll showed that half of our readers do not agree with the professionals in the tuna industry, who are saying that vessels will adhere to the FAD ban rule in...