Tuna Boat Owners Consider A 30 day Voluntary Stop In Fishing Activity ff

Source: Globefish

According to Globefish’ latest Tuna Report, tuna catches in all major oceans continue to be below average. Owners of tuna purse seiners are discussing a possible 30 day stop of fishing sometime during the first quarter of 2009 in order to reduce supply and to help the market to recover. This would be in addition to the fishing restrictions imposed by the Western and Central Pacific Tuna Commission commencing July 2009.

The report stated that tuna is considered a staple food in European Union (EU) countries, and an item to buy in moments of financial turmoil. Prices of canned tuna have gone up strongly in recent months, but consumer interest seems to be influenced by these price hikes. As consumers look more carefully at their food bill in general, more supermarkets’ labels will be bought at the expense of traditional trade brands.

Canned tuna imports into the EU were more or less stable in 2008, with some ups and downs experienced by single countries.

Thailand experienced a significant decline in the export of its canned tuna products to the EU. Imports of Thai canned tuna declined by 42% on the German market, 22% on the United Kingdom (UK) market and 12% on the French market.

This decline was caused by high prices of the Thai product compared to countries which are able to sell under zero tariffs to the EU market. In fact, countries such as Ecuador, Ghana, and Seychelles performed positively during the 2008 period. In addition to the duty advantage, these countries had access to lower priced raw material than Thailand in the course of 2008, affirmed the report.

The UK is by far the main canned tuna importing country in the EU, with over 130.000 M/T imported every year. In 2008, imports continued to grow and reached 103.000 M/T in the first nine months of the year, about 5% ahead of the corresponding 2007 figure.

French canned tuna imports continued to decline. In the first nine months of 2008, there were approximately 10% less canned tuna imported than in the same period of 2007.

Germany and Italy imports of canned tuna declined 17% during the first nine months of 2008, compared to the same period of 2007.