Electronic Monitoring (EM) is a new development in tuna fisheries and AI and machine learning are even more so. Adopting these technologies has been slow, but an increasing number of parties...
Tuna Fishing News
Mexican Fishermen Say Low Tuna Catches Are Worrisome
The fishing industry at the Mexican port city of Tuxpan is stumbling in the dark as its lucrative tuna catches have dropped. Tuxpan holds 90 percent of the tuna fishing fleet in the Gulf of...
Major Global Highlights January 2023
There was a lot of impactful news within the global tuna sector in January. From Mitsibushi being rumored to sell Princes Foods to the EU seiner fleet coming under a lot of pressure from...
PNA Transshipments Remained Stable, Arriving In Low-Demand Bangkok
The WCPO transshipments of tuna in November remained more or less the same as in the previous month despite the lower catch rate per day. Ports in PNG and Micronesia operated the largest...
EU Seiner Fleets’ Fishing Activities 100% Observed
Compliance with fishing regulations is essential for tuna fleets across the globe. All Spanish and French purse seiners have onboard observers or an electronic monitoring system in line with...
Will There Be A 3-Mth FAD Ban In The IO?
The upcoming IOTC Special Session in Kenya scheduled between February 3 to 5 will focus primarily on FAD management measures. No consensus was reached during the last annual meeting on...
Port Lincoln’s Annual Tunarama Festival Back After 2 Years
The annual two-day Tunarama festival – held at Port Lincoln in Australia – concluded on Saturday. Tunarama, which began on January 26, was back in full swing after a two-year break due to the...
Seychelles Gears Up For Second Coastline FAD Retrieval Mission
Seychelles is accelerating its course of action to clear FADs washing up on its reefs, lagoons, and coastlines. After a successful ten-day clean-up event last October, the Seychelles...
Higher WCPO Fishing Effort Not Translated Into Higher Catches
The increase in total purse seine fishing effort in the WCPO continued in November, reaching the highest level of 2022. However, the result of their activities fell slightly by three percent...
Irish Displeasure With Foreigners Fishing Tuna In Its Waters Grows
Irish fishermen cannot catch Atlantic bluefin in the country's EEZ because no quota has been allocated under the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Meanwhile, fleets from its...
Majuro Expects A Rebound In Skipjack Transshipments
Fisheries data shows that tuna transshipments in Majuro port in the Marshall Islands have been rebounding since transfer operations plummeted in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Officials are...
EU Seiner Fleets Cry Foul Over India’s FAD Ban Proposal
India’s recommendation to ban drifting FADs in the Indian Ocean has the EU fishing fleets seeing red. The Asian nation submitted its document ahead of the Special Session due to take place in...
Slow Start After Veda, But Already Lower Manta Skipjack Deals
The second EPO tuna closure ended last week and has already impacted the skipjack trading price in Manta. Seining operations are currently taking place at full capacity in the region. Although...
Kiribati Tuna Fishers Hope For Better Days Out At Sea Amidst Crises
Global warming is real and fishermen in Kiribati claim that they are reeling under its impact. They have pointed out natural and man-made disasters are affecting the peaceful lives of locals...
Shrinking US Seiner Fleet’s Skipjack Catches Hit 40 Year Bottom
US purse seine fleet captains had an abysmal fishing year in 2021 when their vessels netted rock-bottom levels of skipjack not seen in nearly 40 years, according to the latest WCPFC data. This...
Taiwan Signs New Pact To Deploy Observers On Longliners In Seychelles’ Waters
In a strategic move, Seychelles and Taiwan's longline boat owners signed a deal for multiple fishing contracts for the Asian fleet to operate in the coastal nation's waters from the beginning...
Study Says One-Sixth Of High Seas Fishing Hours Potentially IUU
A study claims that 17 percent of the high seas fishing hours in 2021 were potentially vessels carrying out IUU fishing. It based its findings on the ten-year observation of GPS data of around...
NGOs Demand US To Put Costa Rica Under Microscope
Costa Rica has come under the spotlight for fishing violations. A coalition of over 18 marine organizations presented evidence to the US government proving the allegations – mainly for...
India’s Top Court Allows Purse Seiner Operations Only Twice A Week
The Supreme Court (SC) of India granted approval to mini purse-seiner fishermen in the southern state of Tamil Nadu to fish outside its territorial waters, but under conditions including...
EU Deploys New Patrol Vessels To Crack Down On Pollution And IUU
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) introduced three new chartered patrol vessels last week that will strengthen EU fisheries inspection in European and international waters. They...