Maldivian tuna processor MIFCO is now a 100 percent state-owned enterprise after a deal was signed last month. The company is one of the largest exporters of tuna in the archipelago. It...
Tuna Fishing News
Low Oxygen In Pacific Can Shift Yellowfin To Shallow Waters
Climate warming is not only increasing sea surface temperatures (SSTs) but also impacting the volume of oxygen in oceans. The northern and equatorial Pacific oceans has seen the largest...
Purse Seiner Damaged By Fire While Moored In Abidjan
The new year began disastrously for the Belize-flagged purse seiner ‘Harmonia 1’ which caught fire as it docked in the port of Abidjan in Ivory Coast. The 50-year-old vessel was in the harbor...
Albacora & Jealsa Fleets Departing Gulf Of Guinea?
Several Spanish tuna companies are finding it difficult to operate their fleets in the Atlantic Ocean. Boat owners are pointing their fingers at Asian vessels mainly from China and Korea for...
Japan Has The Largest Tuna Fishing Fleet In The WCPO
A total of 3,178 fishing and non-fishing boats are operating in the WCPO, according to the latest information from WCPFC. Japan has the most number of vessels, followed by the Chinese and...
CFTO Third French Company To Sell Seiners?
Disappointing results have forced two French tuna fishing companies to make far-reaching decisions. Rumor has it that Compagnie Francaise du Thon Oceanique (CFTO) also is experiencing some...
High November WCPO Transshipments Promise More Skipjack Supply
Purse seiners operating in the WCPO continued with high levels of catches in November and large volumes were transshipped in PNA ports. Processing hubs can expect another month of substantial...
Madagascar Issues Licenses To 14 EU Tuna Fishing Vessels
The Madagascar Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy announced last week the number of purse seiners and longliners that are allowed to fish for tuna in its waters in 2024. The licenses...
Good WCPO Tuna Fishing Continued In November
Purse seiners continued their excellent catches in November 2023 and were benefiting from the ending of the WCPO FAD ban. For the seventh month in a row, most of the catch was made in Kiribati...
Namibian High Court Acquits Tuna Fishing Company Of IUU Charges
The Namibian High Court has vindicated Nata Fishing Enterprise of illegal fishing and human trafficking accusations. Two of its tuna vessels, ‘Shang Fu’ and ‘Nata 2’ were seized by the...
Study Reveals 75% Of Global Fishing Activity Is Not Publicly Tracked
A group of researchers recently pointed out in the paper ‘Satellite mapping reveals extensive industrial activity at sea’ that “human activities at sea are not well quantified.” The study...
Nauterra Postpones Construction Of New Seiner
The current difficult situation in the EU tuna fishing sector and lower consumer demand in Spain caused Nauterra (formerly Grupo Calvo) to postpone the building of a new purse seiner. In 2019,...
Filipino Tuna Fisher Rescued After Week Of Ordeal In South China Sea
A Filipino tuna fisherman survived eight days at sea by drinking rainwater and eating the fish he caught. The survivor, 31-year-old Rosalon Frans Cayon, was rescued by a Chinese fishing boat...
Multimillion-Dollar Funds Will Not End Spanish Fishing
When questioned about how the new year will look for Spanish fisheries and whether this industry will end, Javier Garat, Secretary General of Cepesca, answered with a forceful no. In his...
Wofco Further Expands Tuna Fleet Buying Seiners From Sapmer
French fishing company Sapmer sold two of its seiners to Spanish Worldwide Fishing Company (Wofco). The Mauritius-flagged ‘Belle Rive’ and ‘Belle Isle’ operating in the Indian Ocean will soon...
Spanish Maritime Electronics Pioneer Luis Arbulu Liz Passed Away At 88
The founder of Grupo Arbulu, Luis Arbulu Liz, passed away at the age of 88 on January 1. The Group specializes in maritime electronics and satellite communications and consists of nine...
ICCAT FAD Ban Continues To Stir African Tuna Industry
On January 1, the fifth 72-day FAD closure began for tuna vessels operating in the Atlantic Ocean and it will last until March 13. There is some controversy within the African tuna industry...
Julio Morón New President Of CEPESCA
The Spanish boat owner’s association Cepesca has chosen Julio Morón as its new President as of December last year after his predecessor decided to retire voluntarily. Morón, who had been the...
Chilean Navy Deploys Submarine To Curb IUU Fishing In Easter Island
The Chilean Navy announced that it recently deployed one of its submarines to monitor IUU fishing in the South Pacific Ocean. Chile alleges that illegal tuna and other seafood vessels...
Year In Review: 2023
2023 was a year of serious ups and downs for the global tuna industry. Trading for skipjack raw material fluctuated wildly due to low catches in all oceans, especially in WCPO. One of the...