June 10, 2026 — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced the 21st sanction package by the bloc against Russia, this time including cod in the list of goods to be completely banned.
In a statement, von der Leyen said the current sanctions are beginning to pay off as Russia’s economy is slowing, and the E.U. must now focus on sectors with the “highest impact,” which includes the country’s fisheries for the first time.
June 3, 2026 — The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced plans for a new set of sweeping Section 301 tariffs against 60 separate economies.
The USTR said it will impose duties on 59 different countries and the entire European Union for what it calls a failure to enforce prohibitions on the importation of goods produced with forced labor. In its publication to the Federal Register, the USTR said it will propose a tariff rate of between 10 and 12.5 percent depending on the commitments the countries or blocs have made to opposing forced labor.
May 22, 2026 — An annual meeting of the regulatory body overseeing the tuna fishery across the Indian Ocean has agreed to update the rules governing one of the region’s most iconic species: yellowfin tuna.
The easing of fishing curbs can be traced to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s (IOTC) scientific body finding that Thunnus albacares stocks aren’t overfished, nor are they currently experiencing overfishing in the Indian Ocean. The body first made the determination in 2024, but the finding underwent an internal review process before being accepted by the commission at its recent meeting in the Maldives. The meeting held in May was attended by delegates from coastal nations in Asia, Africa and Oceania, as well as distant-water fishing powers like Japan and the European Union.
Now, that scientific advice has translated into a reframing of the management rules, provoking sharply divided reactions. Conservationists are urging caution, citing the long history of yellowfin overfishing and the difficulties in monitoring and curbing overexploitation. Industry representatives, meanwhile, hailed the decision, saying it secures access to one of the region’s most lucrative tuna fisheries.
At the meeting in the Maldives, parties agreed on a total allowable catch (TAC) and quotas for contracting members for the period from 2027-2028. In doing so, the IOTC became the first tuna regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) to implement catch allocation systems for all three tropical tuna species under its management: yellowfin, skipjack and bigeye.
The IOTC adopted its first yellowfin rebuilding plan in 2016, on the back of scientific evidence that the stock was being fished at unsustainable levels. The measures mandated reductions in catches aimed at rebuilding the stocks, but didn’t impose a total catch limit or define a fixed limit for each member.
A decade later, with the scientific committee concluding that the status of T. albacares has improved, the focus of the negotiations turned toward distributing fishing opportunities.
May 22, 2026 — The European Union is moving forward on a potential trade deal with the U.S. it first announced in 2025.
The administration of U.S. Donald Trump announced it reached a trade deal with the E.U. in July 2025. That deal would see the U.S. set a base tariff rate of 15 percent on goods from the E.U., and the E.U. agreed to reduce tariffs on a range of goods to zero.
November 24, 2025 — The European Union is failing to keep illicit seafood products from entering its borders, despite having some of the strongest illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing restrictions on paper, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
The NGO – along with Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF EU, all of which comprise the E.U.’s IUU Fishing Coalition – has warned in a new report – “Beyond CATCH: Why E.U. import controls still fail to keep illegal seafood out of the market” – that this flow of IUU products into the bloc is creating “dangerous loopholes” that threaten consumer trust, fair competition, and global efforts to combat fisheries crime.
November 12, 2025 — As two coastal countries connected by the Atlantic Ocean and five centuries of shared history, Brazil and Portugal have long appreciated the value of “blue” or aquatic foods, including our shared love of bacalhau, or salted cod.
Portugal ranks third in the world and first in the EU for per capita fish and seafood consumption, while in Brazil, aquatic foods support more than 3 million livelihoods, with consumption of whole, raw fish reaching as much as 800 grams (28 ounces) per day in the Amazon, which is hosting the U.N. climate talks for the first time in its gateway city of Belém.
But as our global food system comes under increasing pressure, from climate change to shifting diets, we also share the recognition that blue foods play a crucial role in building more resilient, adaptive, and nutritionally balanced food systems.
September 9, 2025 — Greenland has been much in the news since the Trump administration announced its desire to control the world’s largest island. While geographically part of North America (as is western Iceland), Greenland is a semi-autonomous region under the control of Denmark and is politically and economically aligned with the European Union. The EU pays Greenland over $20 million annually for access and support of Greenland’s fisheries.
While seafood products including halibut, shrimp, and mackerel account for well over 90 percent of Greenland’s exports, Greenland seldom makes the fisheries news in North America. Yet several North American stocks migrate to Greenland waters, most notably Atlantic salmon and bluefin tuna.
Bluefin tuna have been reported as bycatch in the Greenland mackerel fishery, and Atlantic salmon from Maine and Canada can be caught in the island’s subsistence salmon fishery. Salmon bycatch in Greenland’s commercial fisheries is deemed insignificant.
July 14, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump has added the European Union and Mexico to the list of trading partners the U.S. is threatening with 30 percent tariffs as of 1 August.
Trump sent letters to both Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatening tariffs as of 1 August – with differing reasons for implementation.
May 28, 2025 — The European Union is open to extending a deal which allows the duty-free import of U.S. lobsters as part of a broader package aimed at removing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing two officials.
The EU’s current regulation eliminating customs duties for fresh and frozen lobsters from the U.S. expires on July 31. The lobster deal between the U.S. and EU was struck in 2020 during Trump’s first term.
July 12, 2023 — On 27 June, five years after the European Commission’s initial proposal to modernize the European Union fisheries control system, a preliminary agreement on new regulation received approval from the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee.
The 20-8 vote advances a planned overhaul of E.U. fisheries control rules with the goal of strengthening measures to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, with compulsory measures introduced on electronic tracking and traceability that aim to boost supply chain transparency, which have been long-sought goals of marine-focused environmental NGOs.