July 29, 2026 — A U.S. court has authorized distribution of USD 152.2 million (EUR 133.7 million) from funds linked to the settlement of a lawsuit against Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee, and StarKist related to their alleged connections to a price-fixing scheme for canned tuna.
U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California signed the order on 27 July, closing a longstanding legal battle.
June 15, 2026 — Tuna company Bumble Bee Foods will continue to face a lawsuit stating it is financially liable for forced labor that allegedly took place aboard some of the vessels that supply the company with tuna.
Bumble Bee won a partial victory in early June that denied plaintiffs in Akhmad et al. v. Bumble Bee Foods injunctive relief, meaning the company was not forced to grant several requests by the plaintiffs. In another court filing on 11 June, Bumble Bee was denied a separate motion for reconsideration, meaning Chief Judge Cynthia Bashant has allowed the fishers to continue to pursue the forced labor lawsuit.
June 1, 2026 — Tuna company Bumble Bee Foods won a partial victory in an ongoing lawsuit that alleges the company is financially liable for forced labor that took place aboard vessels that supply it with tuna.
Akhmad et al. v. Bumble Bee Foods was brought by a group of Indonesian fishers claiming the company is partially liable for alleged forced labor that occurred on vessels that supply the company tuna under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Bumble Bee successfully defended itself against any injunctive relief, meaning the company will not be forced to grant several requests by the plaintiffs.
March 24, 2026 — U.S. retailer Target is facing a class-action lawsuit over sustainability claims regarding its private-label Good & Gather tuna products.
According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the front label of Target’s Good & Gather canned and pouched tuna states that it is “sustainably caught” and includes the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) checkmark logo. Additionally, back-of-label statements include “sustainable seafood” and “wild caught using sustainable practices to help protect ocean resources for future generations to enjoy,” according to the complaint.
February 13, 2025 — Tri-Union Seafoods brand of tuna fish being sold at Walmart, Costco and Trader Joe’s locations are being recalled, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“This voluntary recall is out of an abundance of caution following the notification from our supplier that the ‘easy open’ pull tab can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” a release from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated.
Here’s what to know.
February 11, 2025 — Certain canned tuna products sold by grocers including Costco, Trader Joe’s and Walmart are being recalled due to botulism concerns, according to a notice posted Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The recall involves some canned tuna sold in dozens of states and Washington, D.C., under the Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names, stated Tri-Union Seafoods, a subsidiary of Thai Union, a global seafood provider based in Thailand.
“The ‘easy open’ pull can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” Tri-Union Seafoods stated in the recall posted Monday by the FDA. A supplier alerted the company to the manufacturing defect, El Segundo, California-based Tri-Union said.
People should not consume the recalled tuna even if it does not look or smell spoiled, and those feeling unwell should seek immediate medical attention, the company and FDA warned. No illnesses related to the recalled fish have been reported, they added.
February 9, 2023 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is calling on Consumer Reports to disclose the full details of its research into allegations of mercury contamination in canned tuna.
The article by Consumer Reports, “How Worried Should You Be About Mercury in Your Tuna?” is the latest in a string of similar stories the publication has released dating back to 2014. The new story warns pregnant women to avoid canned tuna altogether due to some cans potentially having “higher levels” of mercury.
October 26, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:
Seafood processors, traders, and marketers can accelerate the path to globally sustainable tuna fisheries by purchasing many of their tuna products from suppliers that meet strict sustainability criteria, according to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), which has released a new conservation measure for its participating companies to follow.
ISSF Conservation Measure 2.4: Purchase Requirements from ISSF Participating Companies to Enhance the Effectiveness of ISSF Conservation Measures requires that the nearly 30 ISSF participating companies purchase tuna products — with specific parameters as explained in full text of the measure — primarily from other suppliers that are ISSF participants. Any tuna supplier that chooses to follow ISSF conservation measures, commits to the ISSF compliance audit process, and successfully completes an initial audit of if traceability system, may apply to become an ISSF participating company.
“Conservation Measure 2.4 provides the foundational framework for our market influence strategy by requiring all stakeholders in the tuna trade to adhere to the same standards that ISSF Participating Companies are held to and audited against,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson.
“The structure of many ISSF conservation measures means that sustainability best practices — from bycatch mitigation to observer coverage — already flow throughout a participating company’s supply chain,” continued Jackson. “But this new measure accelrates these sustainability best practices among a greater portion of the tuna industry. More companies will be subject to the independent audit and reporting process that ISSF participation requires — a transparency and accountability win for the industry, the market and for the long-term health of the world’s tuna fisheries.”
Closing the Data Gaps — and More — in a Complex Supply Chain
The new conservation measure applies to seafood suppliers that either (1) trade 10,000 or more tons of tuna annually (effective January 1, 2019) or (2) process more than 12,500 round tons annually (effective January 1, 2020). These medium- and large-sized organizations are critical components of the complex, international seafood supply chain.
Conservation Measure 2.4 was originally recommended to the ISSF Board by ISSF’s Environmental Stakeholder and Scientific Advisory Committees to reduce existing gaps in the receipt of data by tuna RFMO scientific bodies – gaps that a fragmented and global supply chain can perpetuate. Specifically, the committee intended that a greater number of tuna companies be beholden to ISSF conservation measure 2.2, which requires participating companies to submit species and catch data to RFMOs quarterly because “the scientific findings of the RFMO scientific bodies depend on the completeness and accuracy of the supporting data available to them.”
In effect, Conservation Measure 2.4 will expand industry commitment to best practices beyond RFMO data submission, as ISSF’s suite of more than 20 conservation measures encompasses RFMO support; transparency and data collection; bycatch mitigation; monitoring, control and surveillance; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; capacity management; and more.
Conservation Measure 2.4 states that ISSF Participating Companies shall:
About ISSF Conservation Measures & Compliance
ISSF is a global partnership among scientists, the tuna industry and the environmental non-governmental community whose mission is to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health.
Since its inception in 2009, ISSF has adopted conservation measures and commitments to facilitate this mission with the intent that processors, traders, marketers and others involved in the seafood industry will follow them to facilitate real and continuous improvement across global tuna stocks. ISSF Participating Companies commit to conform to these conservation measures to improve the long-term health of tuna fisheries. They also must adhere to the ISSA Compliance Policy.
ISSF-participating tuna companies, which represent about 75% of the global canned-tuna market and include well-known brand names, are audited yearly by MRAG Americas on their operational transparency and compliance with ISSF conservation measures.
Becoming an ISSF Participating Company
Tuna companies interested in participating in ISSF sustainability programs can apply for International Seafood Sustainability Association membership. Tuna vessels that want to be identified with transparency and sustainable fishing practices can apply to be listed on ISSF’s ProActive Vessel Register.
About the International Seafood Sustainability FoundationThe International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) — the world’s leading conservation organization — promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org, and follow ISSF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.To learn more visit their website at issf-foundation.org.
May 20, 2017 — The Dietary Guidelines for Americans strongly suggest that adults eat two servings of seafood, or a total of eight ounces, per week. Fish and shellfish are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and they are low in saturated fat. But seafood’s claim to fame is its omega-3 fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are beneficial to health.
Omega-3s are today’s darling of the nutrition world. Many observational studies have indeed shown them to help alleviate a range of conditions including high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, asthma, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. However, there isn’t complete scientific agreement on the health benefits of omega-3s, especially when considering the lack of strong evidence from randomized clinical trials, which are the gold standard for research.
So what exactly is the evidence that seafood is good for your health?
The strongest evidence exists for a cardiovascular health benefit, and from consuming seafood (not just fish oil), which is significant because heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
One of the things I research is Americans’ meat and protein consumption. Though many of us are concerned about getting enough protein, most Americans actually get more than enough protein.
Rather, the problem is that most of us don’t include enough variety of protein sources in our diet. We eat a lot of poultry and red meat but not as much seafood, nuts, beans, peas and seeds. For seafood in particular, consumption is estimated at about 2.7 ounces of seafood a week per person, well below the recommended eight ounces.
So the solution might seem simple: Increase public-health messaging along the lines of “Seafood is healthy. Eat more of it.” But it’s a bit more complicated than that.
March 24, 2017 — For the last 20 years, Americans have been having a conversation about sustainable seafood that was largely focused on fish purchased at restaurants or fresh seafood counters. Armed with seafood guides, thoughtful customers were encouraged to pose questions about where their fish was caught and what type of gear was used — questions that are far trickier to pose in front of a wall of canned tuna in the middle of a supermarket.
While tuna poke may be winning over American palates today, our consumption of fresh tuna is still dwarfed by our collective appetite for the canned stuff. According to the National Fisheries Institute, Americans ate more than 700 million pounds of canned tuna in 2015. That’s 2.2 pounds per person, enough to keep it firmly among the top three seafood items Americans consume, a ranking held for more than a decade.
Unlike the sustainability conversations we tend to have over farmed vs. wild salmon — or on issues like bycatch, mangrove destruction or human slavery that swirl around shrimp — the hand-wringing over canned tuna has largely been focused on contaminants like mercury, rather than fishing methods or the health of fish stocks.
A handful of retailers are about to change that.
Last Wednesday Whole Foods Market announced that by January 2018, all canned tuna sold in its stores or used in its prepared foods departments will be sourced from fisheries that use only pole-and-line, troll or handline catch methods that eliminate bycatch (accidental harvest of other fish, birds or mammals) because fishermen are catching tuna one at a time.
The new Whole Foods’ policy also requires canned tuna products to come from fisheries that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or are sourced from fisheries rated green (best choice) or yellow (good alternative) by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Safina Center. And Whole Foods has included a traceability requirement as well.