Swiss seafood trading company BlueYou recently announced, ahead of the World Tuna Day on May 2, that it has launched the Fair Trade Certified tuna program in the Maldives in partnership with Fair Trade US. The certification ensures that products meet strict social, economic, and environmental standards. Maldivian-caught pole-and-line skipjack and yellowfin certified under Fair Trade standards are expected to command premium prices in the EU and US, boosting returns for fishers beyond conventional tuna market earnings. The initiative will partner with 25 island communities across eight atolls, benefiting approximately 30,000 people, including 2,500 tuna fishers.

René Benguerel, co-founder and CEO of Blueyou, said: “Our five-year plan is to supply 500 freight containers of Fair Trade Certified canned tuna to retail markets. Our program helps seafood buyers mitigate social risks, which remain a major challenge in the global tuna industry.” BlueYou has previously run the Fair Trade program in the Maldives. In 2021, it partnered with the Maldivian company Horizon Fisheries for the certification.

The Canadian government recalled 16 food items sold in the 7-Eleven convenience stores in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. There were two tuna products, both Tuna Salad Wedge 143 g (sandwiches), with separate Universal Product Codes (UPC) in the list. The affected products are labeled with April 12-15 best-by dates.

The recall was issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on April 14. It reads that those who purchased the items must not consume, serve, use, sell, or distribute the recalled product. They should be thrown away or returned to the location where they were purchased, according to the Rappels site, which issues Canadian food recalls. The other items listed include chicken, beef, vegetarian, and egg products.

A Pacific bluefin sold at Toyosu Market on January 5 this year set a Guinness World Records as the priciest tuna ever auctioned. Kiyomura Co. Ltd., owner of the Sushi Zanmai brand, paid JPY 510.3 million (USD 3.20 million) for the 243 kg catch caught off Ōma in Aomori Prefecture, and sold it in the brand’s outlets. On April 20, the company announced that an official Guinness World Records adjudicator presented the certificate to Kiyoshi Kimura, President of Kiyomura, also known as Tuna King. Kimura said: “We will continue to provide excellent tuna next year and the year after,” reported Japanese news sites.

The latest recognition marks the second entry for Kiyomura Co. Ltd. in Guinness World Records. The first time was in 2013 for a winning bid of JPY 155.4 million (USD 975,878) for a bluefin at the Toyosu market. Kiyomura has been, for the past many years, the buyer of the most expensive bluefins in Toyosu, an event that takes place in the first week of January every year.