The Thai Union (TU) Group recently increased its stake in domestic retail company, Thammachart Seafood Retail Co., to 65 percent. In a press statement, TU said that the seafood firm has more than a decade experience in retail and premium seafood brands, which would help TU expand further not only in Thailand, but also in other market such as Laos, Cambodia, and China.  

Thammachart Seafood will also help market TU’s Qfresh products in both B2B and B2C segments. The seafood company provides management services to leading Thai retailers for their seafood counters including The Dock Seafood Bar, The Lobster Lab, Seafood Mahanakornm, and the Ocean Bar.

The Pinsa Group has opened its third Dolores Market store in Mazatlan, Mexico. This is in addition to the two other concept shops in Culiacán and Guadalajara. Pinsa's Dolores is the largest tuna brand in the Latin American country. This new outlet offers a wide variety of products such as tuna medallions, hamburger tuna, ground tuna meat, fajitas, chilorio, and a range of canned tuna.

Other tuna companies also have concept outlets to market their own brands. French firm, Sapmer, has two brand stores on La Reunion Island while Spanish canned fish industry operator, Frinsa, operates an independent specialty shop in Madrid, Spain.

The WCPFC meeting, which concluded yesterday, confirmed and approved Japan's acquisition of an extra catch quota of 300 M/T for large bluefin – weighing 30 kilograms or more -- from Taiwan as a temporary measure in 2020. 

The proposal was issued after Japan's request for an expansion on its catch quota to the Northern Committee of the WCPFC was denied due to US opposition. Hence, the WCPFC agreed that the Asian country will get part of Taiwan's volume and that another member country will carry over a greater portion of unused quota to the following year.