A Taiwanese owned purse seiner has been freed from a reef, a week after it ran aground outside Majuro, in the Marshall Islands in the middle of the night. The Vanuatu flagged vessel, Fong...
Tuna Fishing News
PNA Warns Fleets It’s Getting Stricter On FADs
During his final address as PNA CEO, Dr. Transform Aqorau gave a strong message to the tuna fishing industry, stressing that the PNA as a community and resource owner will only strengthen its...
How FADs Have Impacted WCPO Tuna Stocks
One of the central messages of WCPFC Executive Director, Feleti Teo’s speech during the first session of TUNA 2016 Bangkok was the impact that a growing use of FADs by the region’s purse seine...
Last Urge For IO Fleets Not To Ignore The Science
It’s not just brands and retailers calling on fleets to agree to take drastic measures to recover yellowfin stocks during next week’s IOTC meeting, with several NGOs now pushing the importance...
Sustainability At Center Of World Tuna Industry Talks
With just days to go until the global tuna industry meets in Bangkok for the Tuna 2016 conference, stakeholders are gearing up for three full days of insightful presentations, and...
As El Niño Cools, Skipjack Catches Remain Slow
As a strong El Niño starts to weaken, tuna is moving to more western zones of the WCPO, away from Kiribati and towards the EEZs of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), PNG, and the...
Opponents To Cook Islands Deal Seek International Support
The Opposition Coalition of the Cook Islands has requested the intervention of Swedish minister Isabella Lövin and NGO Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature (SSCN), to impede the...
IO Yellowfin: Healthy To Overfished In 1 Year
Now estimated to be 94 percent overfished, and red rated by the IOTC, stocks of IO yellowfin have reached extremely concerning levels, with immediate measures being proposed to cut catch...
Documentary To Celebrate Port Lincoln’s Tuna Industry
Port Lincoln, Australia’s seafood capital and home to its largest fishing fleet, is set tobe showcased in a special documentary on the history of the city’s colorful tuna industry. Filmmaker...
Why Are IO Free School Skipjack Catches Declining?
With the IOTC annual meeting fast approaching, it’s not only yellowfin tuna that will be center of attention, as the RFMO’s Scientific Committee identifies some other key areas of “concern”....
Report Compares “Strikingly Different” FOS & MSC
While in terms of the share of global wild fish catch they certify, MSC and FOS may not be poles apart, a UN-founded report that weighs up the extent of their worldwide presence has found...
Chinese Vessels Caught Illegally Flying Filipino Flag
Two Chinese vessels fraudulently flying the flag of the Philippines have been seized in the north of the country’s EEZ, just days after three Vietnamese tuna boats were also captured in the...
NEW: Species ID Cards Designed For Observers
Tuna fisheries observers in the Pacific are set to be given a full collection of waterproof identification cards featuring images of whales, seabirds and other mammals in the hope that it will...
Explosive Study Reveals Huge Holes In NZ’s Quota System
On the heels of NZ fisheries officials promoting the benefits of quota based management for the world’s richest tuna fishery, a new study has revealed that the system may not be as reliable as...
Philippines Intercepts Vietnamese IUU Tuna Vessels
Three Vietnamese tuna vessels have been caught illegally fishing in northern Philippine waters over the weekend, and the owners now face million dollar fines in order to release the boats and...
US Wholesaler Denies Fisheries Quota Evasion
US Seafood wholesaler mogul Carlos ‘Codfather’ Rafael, apprehended on charges of quota evasion, submitting falsified records to the federal government, and money smuggling, has pleaded not...
Dutch Firm To Buy France’s Biggest Tuna Group
Dutch fisheries firm, Parlevliet & Van der Plas (P&P) could soon be responsible for the operation of 14 French-flagged tuna seiners, as it nears completion of a deal to acquire a...
EPO Catch Cooling After Record Year
Despite former El Nino years indicating that 2015 was set to be disappointing for EPO tuna catch, landing volumes in the region surpassed before-seen levels and surprisingly shot up to a...
Raw Mat Demand In Thai Canneries Still Low
After whole round tuna imports into Thailand last year sunk to a new low since at least 2010, demand in Bangkok canneries has stayed low. Tonnages after the first quarter are four percent down...
“Better Management” Could Net Pacific $344m Extra Annually
A massive USD 344 million can be added to Pacific island annual revenue through better tuna fishery management; that’s according to the World Bank, which says that by 2040, net economic...