A small Japanese fishery is aiming to get the MSC sustainable logo for its tuna catches. The assessment body, Control Union (UK) Limited, recently published the Announcement Comment Draft...
News
Spanish Pole & Liners Further Hit By Rising Fuel Costs
The current fishing season has been expensive for Spanish pole-and-line vessels targeting Bonito del norte and EU-flagged boats catching bluefin. Fuel prices in June once again increased in...
No Appetite For Tuna Fishing Licenses In Bay of Bengal
Companies continue to lack interest in tuna fishing in the Bay of Bengal citing the fish is seasonal and the high investment needed for acquiring vessels. Since April 2016, 17 firms have been...
Polluted Ghanaian Coastal Waters Are Hurting Local Tuna Industry
The Ghana Tuna Association (GTA) was established to improve the country's tuna sector and has now turned its attention to ocean pollution. Richster Nii Amarah Amarfio, Secretary of GTA, called...
StarKist Private Label Tuna Was Part Of Price-Fixing Says Judge
StarKist’s and Dongwon Industries’ bid to get a US federal court to toss out private label tuna products within the scope of the price-fixing conspiracy has backfired. The judge ruled against...
Robbers Looted Yellowfin From Moving Vehicle In Manta
On July 20, a vehicle carrying fresh yellowfin to packing factories was robbed near the Manta airport. The two guards on a motorcycle failed to safeguard the transport which was raided while...
Calvo’s Turnover Declines As Largest Market’s Currency Weakens
Grupo Calvo known for its leading premium yellowfin brand Atun Claro in Spain has its biggest market in Brazil. Almost half of its business is sold there under the Gomes da Costa brand and the...
Oman Blacklists IUU Tuna Longliners
In a complete turnabout, Oman has struck off three Omani-flagged longliners from its registry. In March, the country objected IOTC placing ‘ISRAR 1’, ‘ISRAR 2’ and ‘ISRAR 3’ on the RFMO’s IUU...
Still One-Third Of EPO Skipjack Sets Is On Free Schools, But Less Productive
Although most of the skipjack in the EPO is caught with FADs, close to a third of the 2021 volume was captured on free school sets. Meanwhile, seiner operators' use of FAD sets...
Two Tri Marine MSC Certifications Pass WCPO Bigeye Scope
Not long after the PNA MSC certification failed its bigeye scope extension after adjudication, purse seine and longline certifications belonging to Tri Marine have been given passing scores...
Brain Drain At Bumble Bee, Most Top Management Exit
A major brain drain is taking place at Bumble Bee Seafoods with more senior executives leaving. This includes the Chief Operating Officer (COO), James Badet, who has been with the US tuna...
Dongwon Set To Become Korea’s Protein Powerhouse
Korean seafood giant Dongwon Group, parent of US tuna brand StarKist, is set on becoming Korea’s leader in the protein business. Through successive mergers and acquisitions, the owner of the...
Falling Ocean Freight Rates, Relief In Sight For Tuna Sector?
Slowing demand is pushing global shipping rates downward after more than a year of skyrocketing prices. The tuna sector, which has felt the heavy costs of ocean freight, can rejoice a little...
Continued High Carrier Volumes, But Half Of June’s Catch Still Unloaded
Purse seiners operating in the WCPO maximized their efforts on all their FADs before the ban kicked in, but carrier loadings in June at PNA ports declined from their peak level the month...
Asdomar’s Sustainability Sourcing Fully Focuses On FOS
One of the largest tuna brands in Italy, Asdomar, claims that its sourcing actions speak of 100 percent sustainable fishing as all of its products are Friend of the Sea (FOS) and Dolphin...
Despite NGOs’ Calls, Taiwan Remains Tier 1 In US Trafficking Report
At this time of great geopolitical discourse around Taiwan and China, the US Department of State has ranked Taiwan in the top position (Tier 1) in its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report....
Costa Rica Passes Law Expanding No Purse Seine Fishing Zone
A new regulation prioritizing Costa Rican vessels over foreign tuna fleets has been approved by the country's parliament. The Legislature passed a bill to increase the area prohibited for...
Tuna In Jars, The New Moneymaker For Small-Scale Pacific Fishers?
Small-scale tuna fishers in Small Islands Developing States are being encouraged to produce tuna in glass jars. A relatively small investment has the potential to provide good financial...
Almadraba Closes With Record Catch
The Spanish traditional bluefin catching method in the Mediterranean, the Almadraba, concluded with a record-breaking catch of 2,330 M/T. The fishing season has officially ended after two and...
Massive Seiner Fishing Activity In PNG Waters During June
Many WCPO purse seine captains have been concentrating their fishing operations in the west of the Pacific by setting their nets in Papua New Guinea's waters and the high seas in June. This...