By Atuna.com
Dongwon Industries – South Korea’s largest fishing company – ordered the construction of two new tuna purse seiners at Korea-based STX Offshore and Shipbuilding. The technical details of the vessels have not been disclosed, but each unit is estimated to be valued at USD 22.3 million. The vessels will be mostly fishing for tuna in the Western Central Pacific Ocean. The last seiner that Dongwon bought had a tonnage of 1900 M/T.
This past June, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) adopted a tuna conservation measure that prevents its members from building new, large-scale purse seine vessels. The initiative aims to reduce excess fishing capacity and ISSF companies are only allowed to purchase tuna from boats that are actively fishing at the end of 2012 or under construction by this year’s end, with a maximum completion deadline of June 30, 2015.
As of today, Dongwon F&B Co., the food and beverage distribution arm of Dongwon Industries, is a member of the ISSF coalition, and has canned tuna processing facilities within South Korea and American Samoa. Dongwon F&B Co., and Dongwon Industries of South Korea are two separate companies, although their tuna businesses are closely related and vertically integrated.