The Italian Coast Guard seized over 26 tons of seafood, including yellowfin, squid, and grey mullet, from a plant in Sassari in Northern Sardinia. According to officials, over seven tons of yellowfin, confiscated in the operation, lacked the necessary traceability and labeling, and were stored in violation of European consumer information regulations, reported Italian news site L’Unione Sarda. The paperwork that came with the fish shipments listed some companies in the documents were not officially registered businesses on the island. Checks were also conducted in nearby Nuoro, where authorities found more seafood stored in violation of EU rules.

The irregularities led to the imposition of two administrative fines of EUR 3,000, in total, in addition to the seizure of the entire quantity of goods. The EU General Food Law (EC 178/2002) requires food to be safe and fully traceable at all stages of its supply chain. It obliges food businesses to withdraw unsafe products from the EU market, and provide accurate information to protect consumers.

The European Commission has launched a “call for evidence” to shape the Ocean Act, to be implemented by next year. On January 12, the Commission invited citizens, experts, and stakeholders to submit their comments by February 9.

The Act is part of the European Ocean Pact, adopted in June last year at the UN Ocean Conference, which is a comprehensive strategy to protect tuna and other fish stocks in all oceans, promote a thriving blue economy, and support the well-being of people living in coastal areas. The EU said in a statement that “The Ocean Act is one of the main deliverables of this Pact. Its objective is to improve the coherence and effective implementation of maritime governance in the EU, serving as a single point of reference for all economic, climate, environmental, and social targets adopted at the Union level to protect and sustainably use ocean resources and services.” The results of the public consultation for the Ocean Act will be published in Spring 2026. The legislative proposal, which would support the priorities of the Ocean Pact and facilitate their implementation, is expected to be adopted at the end of 2026.

The StarKist cannery in American Samoa kicked off its operations for 2026 after a two-week pause in December for its annual holidays. The cannery is expected to produce 450 M/T per day, another 10 M/T more compared to last year’s daily production.

The plant witnessed “one of its highest worker turnouts” when production began last week, reported news site Talanei. A majority of the workforce, as usual, arrived from neighboring Samoa. A spokesperson for the company said that currently, StarKist has about 1,700 workers, which would reach 2,000 by the end of this week. Last month, Injoo Ha, President of the cannery, met with Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, to rope in at least 300 workers from the neighboring island nation. StarKist also stated that it has taken an initiative to build two new housing facilities for the guest workers.