As of yesterday, pole-and-line caught tuna from the Maldives can no longer be sold as MSC certified as certifier DNV-GL suspended the certification, while the MSC certification for pole-and-line caught skipjack was renewed.
La Réunion fishing company Sapmer has announced loss of €6.10 million for the 2015 operating year, close to half the amount lost the previous year (€11.9 million). The company has been through some difficult years and appears to be struggling to make returns on its heavy investments in new tonnage in recent years.
Workers across the tuna industry are escalating the campaign to make sustainable jobs and respect for human rights an integral part of a sustainable fisheries industry.
Bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and Atlantic are doing better, according to a report by the French National Committee for Fisheries and Fish Farming (CNPMEM). Although the situation today is not perfect, bluefin have not disappeared as some NGOs had loudly predicted would happen by 2012.
The Martinez shipyard at St-Cyprien in south-western France has announced that it is to build a new tuna vessel in a contract worth €3.50 million. This is the first of its kind to be built for almost ten years.
Norway’s Ministry of Fisheries has set a deadline of tomorrow, 14th of March, for applications to take part in a trial bluefin fishery this year. Norway has a 43.71 tonne bluefin quota allocated by ICCAT. The Ministry is seeking one purse seiner and one longliner to take part in trials.
An operation is in progress to salvage a Korean purse seiner in the Seychelles. The vessel was on passage to Port Victoria when it grounded at L’ilot, Glacis, on the northern coast of Mahé, the largest island of the Seychelles group.
Three fishermen were issued significant fines and prohibition orders after pleading guilty in the Antigonish Provincial Court in Canada to a total of 27 charges related to violations committed under both catch-and-release and commercial bluefin tuna licences issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released the latest version of its Status of the Stocks today. The report compiles the scientific records of the different major tuna stocks done by each of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) into one document, serving as a one-stop resource for comprehensive tuna stock information. The Status of the Stocks Report uses a colour rating system to indicate varying degrees of stock heath and ecosystem impact.
A Scottish MEP has written to EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella to point out that bluefin tuna can be expected to appear in greater numbers in UK water, and this represents opportunities for British fishermen.