The Spanish bluefin group, Ricardo Fuentes, has reinvented its corporate image. Consequently, it has established a new brand, Fuentes. It includes the seven companies of the family holdings, which include Ricardo Fuentes e Hijos, Tuna Graso, Caladeros Mediterráneos SL, Mareblu, and Viver-AtúnCartagena.

Fuentes produces bluefin from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, with farms in Cartagena and San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia), Tunisia, and Malta. The group sells to 12 Japanese, three Korean, and two Chinese firms. A couple of years ago, the company (Ricardo Fuentes) was accused of smuggling undeclared bluefin into the EU, although it has strongly denied the allegations. 

A webinar organized by Pew and WWF will address how to secure the long-term sustainable future for the iconic bluefin. It will discuss the next steps to take now the recovery plans for Atlantic bluefin have paid off and ICCAT installed a management plan for bluefin with the highest allowable catch ever. The fisheries – from small-scale vessels to large purse seiners – base their catch volume on Total Allowable Catches, which each year is unpredictable. Is the time here to include harvest strategies to manage the fish resources more proactively?

This issue will be discussed for two hours each day during a two-day webinar on February 3 and 4. Experts will also talk about the risk of IUU fishing, uncertainties about the biology of the bluefin that could help its recovery further, and the impact of farming on the species' population. Check out the program and register for the webinar.

Spanish tuna company Jealsa Rianxeira has inaugurated its new cold storage in Boiro, the town where the company also has its headquarters. The facility has four chambers and 13,000 M/T capacity for fish, which will be used entirely for internal use by the group, reported Alimarket.

The new cold storage involved a seven million euros investment and is part of an expansion plan which includes the building of two processing plants - one in Spain and the other in Brazil. Jealsa owns the Brazil-based company Robinson Crusoe which last year announced that in January 2021 its products will be reaching the US market.