Written by Robert Sisilo
Access fees-fees that coastal states charge for those who want to fish in their waters-has always been a critical issue for Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) since 1998; when the issue of fisheries subsidies was first...
Tuna exports are slated to increase to 12 per cent of the country’s $4 billion marine exports by 2013, according to a perspective plan drawn up by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).Releasing the Action Plan for the...
A Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner Saturday paid a record 55,700 dollars for a massive bluefin tuna in the first auction of the year at the world's largest fish market in Tokyo, an official and media reports said.The 276-kilogram (607-pound)...
A modern processing facility exclusively to handle oceanic tuna will be set up at a cost of Rs.3 crore in the Integrated Fisheries Project (IFP) here as a joint venture with the National Fisheries Development Board, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad...
Just before the end of 2007, the P300-million Igloo Storage Complex Corporation, another testament to General Santos City’s economic boom, opened its doors through a simple inauguration ceremony on December 18, 2007 at its sprawling compound in...
Caught bluefin are generally taken to two locations in Morehead City, where fish exporters vie to buy the fish.When a tuna is taken aboard a boat, it is usually put into a body bag, and ice is packed around it and into its cavities. One bag spotted...
An Italian trawler was seized by the Croatian navy in the country’s territorial waters Thursday, two days after it implemented a controversial fishing protection zone in the Adriatic Sea. The potential impact of the seizure on EU relations is...
The recent US stance on “zeroing†as part of its anti-dumping investigations is not the first instance of protectionist policies framed by what is said to be one of the world’s most liberal economies. Neither is it the first occasion that the WTO’s...
Last month Malta notified the presence of undeclared soya in tuna flakes from Thailand. This discrepancy was discovered during the screening of a sample at the Maltese border control. The distribution of the Thai tuna in Malta was halted until the...
American Samoa’s largest private employer, StarKist Samoa, hopes all workers return to work when production resumes tomorrow.The two canneries in American Samoa shut down for the holidays with StarKist Samoa resuming production tomorrow while COS...
East Sepik police are investigating four gruesome killings which occurred during the festive season.Two of the killings occurred in the Yangoru Saussia district while the other two were reported in Wewak town.Acting provincial police commander Insp...
RPC Bebo UK Corby and RPC Barrier Containers France have provided new plastics packaging for major Spanish fish processor Salica.These new packaging containers allow its range of tuna-based ready meals to be heated directly in the microwave.The...
A development in research for food pellets for farmed southern bluefin tuna may halve the industry’s feeding costs for labor and running the boats.From experiments on yellow tail kingfish the new pellet has been found as effective as the pellets...
When Congress reconvenes next month, they will take up the question of a one-year extension for the local canneries after the U.S. Senate amended a U.S. House measure deleting the cannery's extension as well as other one-year extensions.The...
New Zealand purse seine vessel Capt. M.J.Souza arrived in Eden on Sunday at 6pm to embark on a three-to-five week trial, fishing the skipjack tuna fishery for supply to Port Lincoln Tuna Processors.The boat began its first trip on Wednesday, a...
Del Monte Foods Co, owner of StarKist tuna, said on Wednesday it named Nils Lommerin as its new chief operating officer. Lommerin was most recently the food company’s executive vice president of operations....
Highly coveted as the definitive dish in sushi, bluefin tuna are being captured in rising numbers by modern methods that threaten to endanger the species. Bob Simon reports.We’ve come a long way in America from the days when hamburgers and hot dogs...
For decades, the fishermen of the southern Philippines have been going to sea for a few days, catching one or two tuna fish and living off the sales for a month. As the catch rose to match surging demand, the Philippines became the world’s...
Clean Seas Tuna at Port Lincoln is struggling to find employees and expects to need another 30 to 40 people in the next year.Chairman Hagen Stehr said the company had grown rapidly from about 20 people when it went public in 2005, to close to 200...
The domestic tuna fishing industry could be worth R1bn a year, but a lack of specialized skills and appropriate vessels means foreign ships operate in SA waters and pay only R250 000 a year to the country for the privilege, notes Business Report.SA...
A Marine Research Center (MRC) team is planning to carry out tagging of tuna to investigate the extent of fish migration and determine growth rate and the effects of fishing on fish stock. The group is currently in Komandoo of Shaviani Atoll to...
January 1st was Mexico’s first tuna fishing day in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and end to the 40-day temporary tuna fishing ban which commenced last November 20th, 2007, reported the Mexican Director of Fisheries Luz del Carmen Martinez Zabatdheny....
Peter Mandelson, the European Commerce Commissioner is scheduled to address the Mauritian press on Monday afternoon by videoconference to dwell on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific...
Ale Nodye, the son and grandson of fishermen in this northern Senegalese village, said that for the past six years he netted barely enough fish to buy fuel for his boat. So he jumped at the chance for a new beginning. He volunteered to captain a...
The Maldives’ economy grew 6.6 percent in 2007, slowing sharply from 19.1 percent a year earlier due to a poor tuna catches but tourism is expected to lift growth to 9.5 percent this year.Revenue from new multi-million dollar leases of resort...
The total production of the Mexican fishing sector, from January to October 2007, showed a drop in production of 31% when compared to last year's figures. This fall was mainly due to a decline in sardine and bluefin tuna catches.
Preliminary...
Just off this picturesque Italian island, a fortune is fattening in two giant, underwater cages.Almost every day, workers dump five tons of thawed herring or mackerel into the water to feed more than 250 tons of giant bluefin tuna, which were caught...
Italy is one of the biggest European tuna markets in terms of tuna consumption. 59 million Italians consume each year on average 2,11 kg of canned tuna, which is mostly solid packed yellowfin tuna in olive oil – in cans of 160 grams net weight....
The United Nations International Labor Commission (ILO) has adopted new labor standards designed to improve the working conditions of about 30 million men and women working in the fishing sector world wide. The new standards were adopted at the...
Just a cog in the wheel - but a very good wheel – that’s how John Isle feels about his time with the Port Lincoln tuna industry.The “I†in company KIS Tuna has sold some of his quota to partner Sime Sarin and is taking a break from the industry to...
The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has launched implementation plan to meet European Union (EU) standards and boost fish exports.In this regard TDAP Chief Executive Tariq Ikram held a meeting of Pakistan Sea Food Industries...
Fishing fleets from more than 30 countries on the high seas of the Atlantic and Pacific will now use new ways to avoid accidentally snaring seabirds going after bait on long lines. The new protections are the focus of strong international measures,...
Equity payments as practiced in the forestry, petroleum and mining industries may be extended to tuna fisheries within the next two years.Fisheries Minister Ben Semri said other renewable and non-renewable resources in PNG had forms of payment but...
Scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are leading the way in investigating the impact of climate change on top predators in the world’ oceans.To find out how climate temperature impacts top predators in the ocean, scientists from over 25...
Fiji’s has recorded a 41 percent jump in exports to the United States between 2006 and 2007, according to the Foreign Trade Bureau of the U.S. Census Bureau.The Fiji Times reports that Fiji’s exports to the U.S. grew by USD 5.85 million to USD 19.98...
Seafood companies in Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan may look at acquiring food businesses in the US, according to sector sources interviewed by mergermarket.
In light of news that California-based Del Monte Foods has retained Merrill...
Canned Tuna Exporter Alliance Tuna International Inc. is optimistic that its export revenues grew 30 percent last year and will increase by another 20 percent this year.Company president Jonathan Dee said in an interview that Alliance Tuna thanks to...
The Federal Government is being urged to keep a close watch on a new fishing trial being carried out off the New South Wales south-east coast.A 1,500-ton New Zealand-based trawler is spending the next month in Eden investigating whether the...
Sea temperatures were expected to rise by 4% because of global warming forcing the migratory tuna stocks to leave for cooler waters.Fisheries Minister Ben Semri made this remarks last Wednesday during a visit to Lae to officiate at the hand-over of...
Considering the demand for marine products, a working group on fisheries for the 11th Plan mooted introduction of 234 additional vessels, including 58 longliners to capture tuna, billfish and oceanic sharks.The working group has also asked for...
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)Region 12 gathered the stakeholders of the major tuna industry last January 4 to discuss the requirements of Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) on the long term conservation...
Destructive fishing has many critics, with the newest being an animated fish puppet emerging from an icebox to push the virtues of sustainably caught seafood.Stinky Fish, the brainchild of WWF’s International Marine Program and viral movie makers,...
India’s tuna supplies to the European Union (EU) are climbing up at a staggering speed.
During the first half of 2007, the EU imports of Indian tuna products increased by an amazing 26 times more than during the same period in 2006; from 85 tons...
During the first weeks of 2008 atuna.com showed a poll on its homepage which asked readers to vote on the question: DO YOU SUPPORT ‘TUNA FLEET REDUCTION’ AS A SOLUTION FOR DECLINING CATCHES?The vast majority (78%) of the participants to this latest...
In 2007, Hermasa has increased its presence in the international markets with new installations, both of equipment and full plants. The latest installation of a full plant dedicated to making canned tuna and other canned food has been that of...
Malaysian exports to the United States (US) seem to be on a very slow climbing trend.Most of the 2006 exports to the US took place during the first 9 months of the year; 974 tons between Jan-Sept versus the 1073 total tons exported during the full...
The Fisheries Ministry is focused on making Papua New Guinea the world’s tuna capital. And the establishment of the Madang marine industrial park will enhance this objective.The marine park will augment fisheries benefits to local fishermen, fishing...
On Thursday January 17th WWF released a short online video titled Stinky Fish to try to raise awareness amongst younger, web-savvy audiences about the problems of overfishing and build support for responsibly-caught sustainable seafood.The premise...
The Solomon Islands government has unveiled its policy statement, vowing to fight corruption and deliver effective service to the people.Prime Minister Dr. Derek Sikua’s policy statement promises to provide clean piped running water and sanitation...
Major fishing company Frabelle-Frescomar (PNG) Ltd will expand its pump-boat fishing operations this year following expressions of interest from three other maritime provinces.Officials from New Ireland, Manus and Sandaun recently approached...
The Indigenous Tuna Boat Association of Fiji is calling on interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to intervene in the debate over fuel concession.Association president Amini Naivalulevu said as a result of the uncertainty over the...
American Samoa has hosted talks between Chicken of the Sea Samoa Packing and another leading U.S. tuna packer, Bumble Bee Seafood Incorporated on a possible co packing arrangement between the two canneries.Samoa Packing’s General Manager, Willie...
The environmentalist group Greenpeace says urgent action is needed to protect certain fish stocks which are facing crisis point.Fishing vessels from Europe are on the rise in the Pacific despite warnings that catches for certain types of tuna need...
Illegal fishing in the Exclusive Maritime Economic Zone (EMEZ) in Mauritius has taken a great toll on country’s economy, causing an annual loss of over US $3 million, Mauritius Minister of Agro-Industry, Arvin Boolell, disclosed.At a news conference...
Recent laboratory tests found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.Sushi...
Export tuna prices rose by over 40% during 2007, according to the Fisheries Ministry, in an encouraging sign for an industry which makes up around 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).But the tuna catch fell by about 23% during the year,...
Within 3 years-time, Ecuador’s exports of canned tuna to the United States (US) skydived from 20.000 tons to less than 1000 tons.In 2004, Ecuador delivered 20.801 tons of canned tuna to the US. The trend from 2004 until September 2007 has been...
Consumer advocates and representatives of the seafood industry are disputing a newspaper report on the safety of sushi-grade tuna, saying the New York Times misinterpreted government standards.Critics of yesterday’s article, including the Center for...
Ivory Coast is the most important tuna harbor of Africa with a population of about 18 million people.
Maintaining close ties to France since its independence in 1960, the diversification of agriculture for export, and the encouragement of foreign...
During the past three years, New Zealand’s exports of frozen Albacore tuna to the European Union (EU) have been falling gradually.Until the year 2005, New Zealand had consistently been exporting approximately 3,000 tons of Frozen Albacore Tuna to...
It’s been a rough week.The stock market has gone through more gyrations than an Elvis impersonator. The governor and the mayor announced budget plans that are based on revenue assumptions that may be as flimsy as a striking screenwriter’s bank...
The NY Times ran a follow up about their investigation that found abnormally high levels of mercury in fish served at area restaurants. Toxicology reports from 44 pieces of sushi, ordered from places including Nobu Next Door and Sushi Seki, may in...
Japanese officials and experts said Thursday they had little concern about the nation's passion for tuna after revelations in New York of dangerous mercury levels.The New York Times said Wednesday that laboratory tests conducted for the...
With some tuna stocks in danger, and the price of fish increasing across the board, processors are looking for ways to cut costs and make filling more efficient.Such factors and increasing demand for high yield systems has prompted filling equipment...
TUF’s share price has dropped roughly 17% in the past three months and has made its already attractive valuation even more enticing for bottom fishers. Trading at an estimated PE08 of 8.5x and providing a estimated dividend yield of roughly 5.6%,...
A total of 80 cages used for aquaculture in Malta occupy a surface area of 78,773 square meters, as much as 11 football pitches, the recently published Census on Fisheries published by the National Office of Statistics reveals.According to the NSO,...
WWF is calling on retailers to follow the example of several major European supermarket chains and stop selling Mediterranean bluefin tuna until the imperilled species is out of the danger zone.The global conservation organization’s call was made as...
Three fishermen from Nauru, who survived 11-days at sea after their engine broke down on a day trip, are finally preparing to fly home from the Marshalls.The group had gone out for a fishing trip in their small 14-foot aluminum boat when a strong...
The Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) district office in General Santos failed to achieve its collection goal for 2007, with the deficit blamed on the remittances elsewhere of several big businesses operating in the city. Noel Gonzales,...
Remember when Jaws made you afraid to go in the water? Now check out a tale that may make you frightened to even be near it. It happened on the east coast of Australia where a man was fishing off a boat on Sunday, when he hooked what he believed was...
The European Commission has opened infraction proceedings against several countries, including Spain, for not properly informing the Brussels Authorities about their tuna catches.Allegations of environmental organizations, stating that Spain is...
In its campaign to end the use of shark squalene, Oceana has received news that the multinational will stop using this product in early 2008, joining other European cosmetic companies that have already done so Oceana, the international marine...
The Solomon Islands Fisheries Ministry is continuing its program to tag and monitor three main tuna species - yellowfin, big eye and skipjack.The National Tuna Data Coordinator and Tag Return Officer, Hudson Wakio, says the tagging program is part...
Indian Union Minister of State for Commerce airam Ramesh will begin a three-day visit to the Maldives from oday as part of his drive to expand trade and investment ties within SAARC.
The visit assumes significance in light of the forthcoming SAFTA...
There is an “unlimited market†for Papua New Guinea fish products in Europe but a concerted effort is needed from all stakeholders to fully realize the benefits, a tuna canner said.Alex Bernardino, Frabelle (PNG) Ltd general manager, said importers...
The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) will use satellite technology to identify the best places to fish, a media briefing was told.The Chairman of National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, K....
Although society loses out when fishermen deplete a fishery, or loggers take more timber than nature replaces, it happens all the time. This is partly because there is no immediate accounting for an action’s future effects. Overfishing provides...
Fiji is the largest island economy in the Pacific region after Papua New Guinea, and has only population of 853 thousands people. Fiji occupies an archipelago of about 322 islands, of which 106 are permanently inhabited, and 522 tiny islets. The two...
A bomb blast at the gate of a tuna canning factory in the southern Philippines on Wednesday killed at least two people and wounded 15, police said.Nicanor Bartolome, a spokesman for the national police, said the explosive was a home-made bomb and...
DFO biologist at workshop says Gulf of St. Lawrence only exception to global depression of bluefin stocks.Prince Edward Island bluefin tuna fishermen gathered in Charlottetown Tuesday to take a look at their industry from a scientific perspective...
Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that in a letter dated January 29, 2008 he informed Governor Togiola that he has introduced H.R. 5154, a bill which would amend the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 and condition further increases in minimum...
Seafood prices are soaring but fishing company Sanford says shareholders are unlikely to see an adequate return this year.NZX-listed Sanford said the current market price for skipjack tuna was up 45 per cent on last year, ling was up 35 per cent,...
The global aquaculture industry is not a solution to overfishing and must dramatically change in order to become sustainable, says a new Greenpeace report.’Challenging the Aquaculture Industry on Sustainability’, which was presented to the 2008...
Police authorities are focusing their investigation on extortion and labor dispute as possible motive behind the bomb explosion Wednesday night in front of a tuna canning plant here that killed four people and injured 27 others.Chief Supt. Felizardo...
