Europêche Tuna Group Director Will Address Challenges Of EU Fleets At ETC2025

Lower tuna catches in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans will be discussed at the European Tuna Conference on May 5 at the ICAB building in Barcelona. Atuna introduces Session III panelist Anne-France Mattlet, Tuna Group Director Europêche, participating in the topic Prices, Catches & Production.

In the past year, there have been record catch levels in the Eastern and Western Pacific Ocean, but fleets in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean were struggling. Europêche represents the Spanish and French tuna fleets operating in these latter two oceans of which some continue to have a hard time to survive as catches are on a downward path for two years already. It is estimated that fleets lost 30 to 40 percent of their catch volume and thus revenue last year. In addition, tuna prices in hubs Seychelles and Abidjan dropped in 2024 compared to the year before. Processing facilities had to reduce their production due to a lower supply. What would the road ahead be like for tuna businesses whose operations are centered around these oceans?

In April 2022, Mattlet became the first Director of the newly set up Tuna Group, which was established to promote the interests of the EU tuna purse seiner fishery. She brought in over five years of experience working on international ocean governance and tuna-related polices at the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea in Northern France until 2016, as part of the French Office of European and International Affairs for Fisheries until 2020, as a duty officer at the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center of the French Mediterranean before assuming the position at Europêche.

The theme of ETC2025 is ‘Navigating the Evolving Tuna Landscape – Balancing Sustainability, Supply Chains, and Market Dynamics.’ Registration to participate in the Conference is open.