The Hindu Business Line : Global tuna prices surge

Fishing efforts in the Indian Ocean have switched to skipjack with only small amounts of yellowfin being caught: catches of skipjack are not strong either.

Exports dip

Parallel to the declining tuna catches from the Indian Ocean, exports from India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Maldives to the Japanese market have also registered a decline, the report, published by the Seafood Exporters Association of India, said.

In the face of increasing fuel and other costs, boat operator’s organisations in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan have decided to suspend operations for several months, which are expected to fuel prices further.

“The economic conditions made it difficult for tuna fishermen to make ends meet; and this measure will have a positive effect on the declining tuna population in the world’s oceans,” the report pointed out.

Beneficial for India

The high prices and slowdown in global catches are expected to nurture the nascent tuna industry in India.

Recent efforts at stepping up production and export from the Indian coastline have begun to yield handsome results.

Fresh efforts are under way to increase the catch from tuna-rich waters of Lakshadweep as well as the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Prices to stay up

The current high tuna prices are likely to continue as a fishing ban has been imposed by the nine Pacific nations in two high seas pockets – one to the north of Papua New Guinea and the other to the east of that country.

These waters are surrounded by coastal waters of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Palau Nauru, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Australia and the basic purpose this ban is for the conservation of tuna resources, namely bigeye and yellowfin.

With poor yellowfin catches and mediocre skipjack catches from the Indian Ocean and no improvements reported in the global oceanic catches, the global tuna markets continued to remain firm, the report added.

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