A small-scale tuna fishing boat that was moored at Manta Port caught fire in the wee hours of Sunday. The cause is unknown and luckily no injuries were reported. The boat, named ‘Jostin,’ had arrived in port on Saturday night after a fishing trip and was docked to unload its cargo. Firefighters arrived at the spot around 7 am and managed to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby vessels. It took them several hours to extinguish it. The owner of the boat, whose details are unknown, was not present at the time.

Nearly 400 to 500 tons of tuna and other seafood were destroyed in the accident. “60 percent of the ship was affected, mainly the command and fishing decks,” reported Ecuadorian news sites.

Seychelles cannery Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT), owned by Thai Union, is taking measures to control the foul smell that has been coming from the production facility for the past few months. A team of officials from the Committee for Food Security and Sustainable Development (FSSD) of Seychelles that visited the plant last week confirmed that the stench will be controlled by February 2025 with the installation of newly purchased equipment. IOT apologized to people living near its facility in April as complaints increased about the foul smell affecting their daily lives. A spokesperson for the company said that it emanated from fish waste decomposition due to a failure in the factory’s fishmeal process, reported Seychelles news sites.

The IOT plant, located in New Port, Victoria, is the third-largest factory in Thai Union Group’s manufacturing network, according to the company’s website. It processes tuna for Thai Union-owned brands such as John West, Petit Navire, and Mareblu.

Australia handed over a patrol boat ‘Te Mataili III’ to Tuvalu yesterday to combat IUU fishing within its tuna-rich EEZ. The ceremony held in Western Australia was attended by Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Australian Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh. The boat is a replacement of ‘Te Mataili II’ which was destroyed by cyclones Judy and Kevin in March last year while it was stationed in Vanuatu. The vessel will enhance Tuvalu’s participation in regional operations such as those led by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), which coordinates fisheries patrols and surveillance to protect the region’s vital tuna fisheries, reported local media.

This initiative was carried out under the ‘Falepili Union’ treaty signed last year. “It was inked upon Tuvalu’s request of Australia to help safeguard the future of Tuvalu. The Treaty covers three main areas of collaboration: climate cooperation, mobility with dignity, and shared security,” read a statement from the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office.