August 31, 2021 — A weeklong Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) meeting, held to advance the commission’s protection of bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna stocks in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, has failed deliver any such conservation measure.
With the IATTC unable to reach consensus, discussions on the measure roll over to its next virtual meeting, scheduled to take place on 18 October.
August 24, 2021 — The interim plan for rebuilding the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) should target cooperation of large-scale industrial fishing fleets, as opposed to small-scale fishers, according to India’s Department of Fisheries.
India has objected to the IOTC’s resolution on the rebuilding of Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna. India Fisheries Development Commissioner Intisar Anees Siddiqui, in a letter to the IOTC Secretariat, said the large-scale industrial fishing fleets are to blame for reducing yellowfin tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean and “should bear much responsibility.”
July 28, 2021 — Uncertainty hangs over a June 2021 agreement by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to limit the total Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna catch to 401,000 metric tons (MT) after six members of the commission announced intentions to object to the resolution.
In a statement, the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) said the move by Indonesia and Oman to formally object to the agreement reached during the 25th session of the IOTC, in addition to the subsequent objections of India, Iran, Madagascar, and Comoros mean the IOTC agreements “may be futile.”
June 23, 2021 — After facing a class-action lawsuit claiming that Subway’s tuna sandwiches do not contain tuna and the restaurant chain cannot prove the fish is sustainable, a new DNA lab report shows there is no tuna in the company’s tuna sandwiches.
The New York Times set up an independent lab test of 60 inches of tuna sandwiches from three Subway restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The testing, which included a polymerase chain reaction test that searched for DNA of five different tuna species, detected no tuna in the sandwiches.
June 22, 2021 — The Subway tuna lawsuit drama continues.
In January a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that the sandwich chain’s tuna sandwich is “made with anything but tuna.” Independent lab tests that were reportedly taken from multiple California Subway locations found that the tuna was a “mixture of concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna.” The two plaintiffs, Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin of Alameda County, were hoping to get their claim certified as class action, which would open the case up to others in California who bought tuna from Subway after January 21, 2017.
June 14, 2021 — The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) agreed to reduce the total allowable catch for yellowfin tuna after months of pressure from non-governmental organizations and some commercial groups.
But according to environmental organizations, the effort has fallen short of ending overfishing, as five members of the commission objected to the rebuilding plan.
June 7, 2021 — The 25th Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission begins Monday, 7 June, and several stakeholders are demanding immediate action from the regional fisheries management organization to put an end to overfishing of yellowfin tuna in the region.
Several non-governmental organizations issued statements in advance of the meeting, saying the IOTC can no longer ignore its responsibility of putting in place an agreement that will save the tuna stock, which has been deemed to be overfished.
May 24, 2021 — Non-governmental organizations are calling on the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to adopt a plan for rebuilding the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock and improve the management of fish aggregating devices (FADs) to reduce catches of juvenile tropical tunas.
The Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) and the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), in a statement last week, said that these measures should be adopted during the upcoming virtual IOTC session, scheduled to take place 7 to 11 June, 2021.
May 18, 2021 — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has announced the adoption of a new conservation member for participating companies aimed at reducing the annual sourcing of Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna.
Called ISSF Conservation Measure 1.3 IOTC Yellowfin Tuna Rebuilding, the measure will take effect if the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) doesn’t take action at its June 2021 meeting to safeguard the stock. The IOTC delayed any decision on the yellowfin stock in March, a move criticized by NGOs and seafood companies.
May 14, 2021 — A series of strong storms roiling the Gulf of Mexico this winter and early spring – coupled with a slow reopening from COVID-19-related restrictions – has dampened yellowfin tuna production in the Southeast U.S., with boat prices hovering at about the same levels as this time last year.
David Maginnis, who runs Jensen Tuna in Houma, Louisiana – the gulf’s largest yellowfin producer – said boat prices for the premium quality No. 1 tuna average USD 6.50 (EUR 5.43) per pound, while the No. 2 fish are about USD 3.50 (EUR 2.87). According to the latest landings data provided by NMFS, fishermen have harvested 30.7 metric tons (67,584 pounds) between 1 January and 28 February — way down from the same period in 2020 when 76.7 metric tons (169,137 pounds) were harvested.