Sakhalin-based tuna fishing company Express is preparing to export its products to international markets, starting with China, as Russia’s Far East opens up to commercial bluefin fishing. Russia’s Sakhalin Region established official industrial bluefin catch quota for the first time in 2026, creating new opportunities for the area’s fishing industry. The regional Export Support Center, which helps businesses enter overseas markets, is working with Express on its export plans. The company has yet to disclose the volume of its first shipment.

The move follows a northward shift of large bluefin schools into the East Sakhalin subzone, prompting Russian fisheries authorities to authorise commercial fishing in the region for the first time in modern history this year. The subzone’s 2026 quota was set at 30 tons, including an allocation for Express, according to Russian news sites. Evgeny Valko, CEO of the company, attributed the increase in tuna numbers in local waters to climate change. “We are currently seeing an increase in their numbers in our waters. This is a favorable situation for the development of the region’s fishing industry,” he said.

French authorities have recalled several batches of canned tuna sold under retailer Coopérative U’s private label across France due to a packaging defect that could pose a risk to consumer health, according to RappelConso, the country’s official food recall database.

RappelConso, on October 12, stated that the recall was made due to the “risk of dented cans leading to liquid loss and product deterioration,” and consumers who purchased the cans were asked to return them to the point of sale and obtain a refund. “These products, 265 g and 70 g (net weight) cans of tuna in brine, were manufactured and/or stored under conditions that do not allow for satisfactory health guarantees. Therefore, these products may pose a risk to consumer health,” it read. The expiry dates of the cans are between 2029 and 2030.

Indonesia has been allocated a 25 percent increase in its southern bluefin quota, lifting its allocation to 1,670 tons per year for 2027–2029 from 1,336 tons previously. The decision came at the 33rd annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) in Brussels. Members also raised the global total allowable catch to 23,647 tons of bluefin for the three years. Indonesia may additionally access up to 1,500 tons a year from unused allocations held by other CCSBT members, subject to the commission’s rules. Jakarta said it supports a science-based expansion of the global catch limit while continuing to seek a larger national share.

Indonesia claimed that a higher allocation would reflect fairness for its status of developing coastal state and its role as host of the world’s only known Southern bluefin spawning ground. The government highlighted in Brussels the completion of the return of excess catch, an increased onboard monitoring program, and strengthening catch-documentation controls. The quota gain follows a multi-year diplomatic campaign that Indonesia started in 2023 and renewed its case at the 32nd CCSBT meeting, hosted in Bali in 2025. Its fisheries minister sought at that time an allocation equivalent to 15 percent of the TAC, roughly 3,000 tons.