Tuna seiners, industry and fishermen specific news from around the globe

Companies push hard to halt Tuna collapse

By Stephen Leahy* VICTORIA, Seychelles, Feb 8, 2010 (IPS) – In the Seychelles’ only cannery, the din of thousands of empty tuna cans rattling on narrow metal troughs is incredible as they bustle along, soon to be filled with Skipjack tuna that only days ago were swimming freely in the inky blue Indian Ocean. At one end of the Indian Ocean Tuna Limited processing plant – the world’s second largest – cranes offload nets full of frozen tuna from huge international fishing boats called purse seiners while at the other end of the plant, 5,000 cans of tuna roll off the line every minute. That’s a lot of tuna – roughly 400 metric tonnes a day. Can the Indian Ocean tuna bounty, which amounts to more than 20... (more...)

Philippines – Tuna exports drop by a fifth in 2009

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Value of the country’s tuna exports dropped by a fifth last year from 2008, a sales dip attributed to a ban in the third quarter in the Pacific Ocean on a widely used fishing method. Data from the regional chapter based here of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport-12) showed that the country’s tuna exports dropped 20.6% to $269.4 million last year from $339.6 million in 2008. Exports from Central Mindanao alone amounted to $206.2 million, or three-fourths of the total, which was a 28.6% drop from 2008’s $288.7 million. In terms of volume, the tuna industry shipped 101.7 million kilograms (kg) last year, compared with 108.3 million kg in 2008, data from the regional office of the Bureau of... (more...)

Q&A: Seychelles Tuna Conference

By Chris Dove, SeafoodSource contributing editor, reporting from Malaga, Spain The inaugural Seychelles Tuna Conference kicks off on Thursday. One of the three-day event’s sponsors is the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). Fresh off last month’s Coral Triangle Initiative Business Summit in the Philippines, ISSF President Susan Jackson will give a talk titled “ISSF: Undertaking Science-based Initiatives for the Long-Term Conservation and Sustainable Use of Tuna Stocks” at the Seychelles Tuna Conference on Friday. SeafoodSource tracked down Jackson this week to get her thoughts on the upcoming event and the future of global tuna fisheries. Dove: What do you hope will come out of the Seychelles Tuna Conference? Jackson:... (more...)

Vietnam exports more tuna to the US

Vietnam earned US$67.3 million from exporting 19,000 tonnes of tuna to the US in 2009, reported the General Department of Customs. The figures represent a year-on-year increase of 20.4 percent in volume and 23 percent in value, accounting for 37.2 percent of Vietnam’s tuna export market share. They help maintain positive growth in both volume and value, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). Other markets purchasing Vietnamese tuna include Canada, Lebanon, Switzerland and Australia with growth from 13 percent to 40 percent in volume and from 2.7 percent to 26 percent in value compared to the previous year. However, Vietnam’s tuna exports in 2009 hit only US$181 million, a year-on-year decrease of... (more...)

Ecuador-Other migratory species in control of CIAT

MANTA, ECUADOR .- A modernized Antigua Convention (Antigua, Guatemala 1949) will take effect this year and with it new responsibilities for riverine countries members of the agency regarding the capture, preservation and management of highly migratory species. Guillermo Compean Jimenez, director of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, IATTC, held talks with Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Ramon Martinez Espinel, representatives of the fishing industry, owners and leaders of guilds on the most important points of this international law. “The convention which is 60 years old and is the equivalent of the constitution of the IATTC, was written when there was the Sea Convention and that there was little... (more...)

Tunaseiners.com

By admin For tuna followers

Caribe The word tuna dates back only to 1880 in print and is attributed as a Spanish American derivation of the English counterpart, tunny.

It is derived from the Latin Thunnus, the name of its scientific genus. Tuna has been fished from the warm, temperate parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans since ancient times.

The modern and real tuna fisherman begun to work first in the bait boats, and later on move to the big tuna seiners with the invention of the power block and the big seine nets, also increase the size of the boats, and the capacity and autonomy of the fleets, some spending an average of two or three months per trip depending of the season, we know of some koreans boats that stay in fishing grounds for about 6 months without going ashore, doing the refueling and unloading in high seas.

Please if you feel interested in this subject, just as a fisherman, curiosity, researching or just to become part of a community join us, signing up is easy and quick, just provide a real email and follow the instructions and in matter of couple minutes be a part of the Tunaseiners.com!

I believe we will able to interact much better with this new platform, there is a lot of ideas to make the site better and better, of course with all your support and collaboration.

I want to thank to my friend Tom Walsh for all the constant support and encouragement, to my friend Juan Mora Cerdas from Panama which has been very supportive, also many thanks to Luis León Falla (gordo lucho) in San Diego, and to all of you helping to keep alive the good name and the pride of the tuna fishermen.

Sincerely

Calidro Morello

Senior- Editor