Iceland received a 13 percent increase in bluefin quota for 2026, from 224 tons to 254 tons, at the ICCAT 29th Regular Meeting in Spain in November. However, current regulations and a shortage of boats to catch bluefin have left the nation with challenges to utilize the quota.

Iceland has held a bluefin quota since 2016, but lacks a fleet capable of harvesting the tuna, with facilities such as deep-freezing, leaving the allocation effectively unused. The country has also asked for a review of rules banning foreign chartered vessels from operating in its waters to catch bluefin. If these regulations are revised, Iceland could begin tuna catching and strengthen its position in ICCAT negotiations, where continued participation can influence annual quota adjustments, reported The Fishing Daily.

Korean tuna fishing company Dongwon Industries recently got its longline-caught yellowfin, bigeye, and North Pacific and South Pacific albacore catches in the WCPO MSC certified. Last March, Dongwon went for an MSC scope extension for its yellowfin (UoA10), bigeye (UoA 11), North Pacific albacore (UoA 12), and South Pacific albacore (UoA 13) catches to its already MSC-certified purse seine skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye.

All four UoAs scored above 80 for the three principles – target species, ecosystem impacts, and management systems. The report read that the main client is the same as per the existing certificate in Dongwon Industries, but with additional entity SNB International currently owning and operating one of the eight longline vessels in the proposed UoAs 10-13. All vessels in the fishery are flagged to South Korea.

Hundreds of workers from the Galician tuna and seafood canning industry in Vilagarcía de Arousa gathered on the streets on Saturday to demand their rights. It includes an increase in wages, a rights-based professional classification system, a reduction in working hours, improvements in workplace health and safety conditions, and concrete action to protect women workers’ rights. Major tuna companies such as Bolton, Jealsa, and Nauterra are headquartered in Galicia. The protest was organized by the trade union Confederación Intersindical Galega (CIG).

The unions CCOO and UGT, which were supposed to take part in the protests, withdrew last week after a mediation meeting with SIMA (Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service) in Madrid to first review the proposed changes to the labor agreement. However, this did not sit well with many workers, who decided to go ahead with the protests on Saturday. They claimed the agreement reached during the mediation was a “backroom deal that does not address the main demands of the workforce,” reported Spanish news sites.