Simplot’s tuna brand, John West, has released a new offering in canned tuna – John West No Drain. The new cans contain a significantly smaller amount of liquid than standard canned tuna, meaning the fish can be taken straight out of the tin without draining. The new tuna, available in 130g snack-size varieties, is aimed at the single-serving tuna market – lunches and quick meals. Each can contains skipjack tuna, and is available in springwater, brine or olive oil varieties. All... ...Read more »

Aquaculture specialist Clean Seas Tuna has reported a new milestone in its pioneering Southern Bluefin Tuna research, reporting a succesful transfer of its young tuna into sea cages. After last month’s world-first succesful transfer, the company has followed with a second batch of 60 young tuna fingerlings. A total of 85 juvenile tuna are now living in the company’s sea cages, with Clean Seas reporting that they are feeding extremely well and have grown to around 15cm in length. The company’s... ...Read more »

Coles has announced plans to introduce more certified sustainable seafood options for customers, as well as phasing out sales of several overfished and at-risk species, in an effort to decrease the supermarket’s impact on fish stocks. Coles said it has enlisted the WWF to help it review all Coles fresh seafood and advise where action is needed to ensure fish is sourceed on a sustainable basis. In an agreement signed last week with WWF, Coles has agreed not to stock any seafood without taking... ...Read more »

Woolworths yesterday announced its new sustainable fish sourcing strategy, designed to allow customers to make more sustainable fish choices in both canned and fresh fish. The supermarket giant made the announcement to coincide with today’s Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) event, Sustainable Seafood Day. The Woolworths Select private label will now offer MSC-certified canned salmon, with MSC-certified Albacore tuna due to be introduced next month, and has removed the overfished Yellowfin Tuna... ...Read more »

Aquaculture company Clean Seas Tuna has reported a successful transfer of its young Southern Bluefin Tuna to offshore cages, marking a significant milestone in the company’s pioneering work breeding the fish in captivity. The young tuna, known as fingerlings, are now 8-10cm long, and have been weaned onto a specially-developed manufactured diet. 90 of the small fish were transferred to 25-metre offshore cages, with a similar number remaining in onshore nursery tanks. The transfer is a marked... ...Read more »

Clean Seas has returned a stronger-than-expected half-yearly result, with the company’s kingfish business generating cash flow for the first time. The company’s after-tax loss for the half year ending December 31 was $9.3 million, compared to $14.1 million in the previous half-year, and the company said it expects a positive impact on earnings in the current half year due to the nature of the lifecycle of the fish produced. The company attributed its results improvement to operational... ...Read more »

The hotly-anticipated spawning season for Southern Bluefin Tuna researchers Clean Seas Tuna has begun, with the company’s broodstock beginning spawning late last week. The company have come closer than any other establishment to successfully breeding the prized fish in captivity, with disappointment last year when none of the company’s young ‘fingerling’ tuna survived past 38 days. The company suffered further misfortune with the accidental death of a large number of its kingfish... ...Read more »

Sainsbury’s announced today that all tuna used as an ingredient in its food will be caught using the pole and line method by the end of this month. This move ensures that 100% of Sainsbury’s tuna across all products is responsibly sourced. Sainsbury’s fresh, frozen and canned tuna is already line caught. All of Sainsbury’s ready meals, sandwiches, pate, dips, salads, sandwich and potato fillers and sushi containing tuna will now be sourced using the more selective fishing... ...Read more »

Results of an independent investigation launched this weekend have revealed a complex international black market in East Atlantic bluefin tuna worth an estimated $4 billion, with many cases of quota violation, widespread underreporting, use of banned spotter planes, catching of undersized fish, and even governmental misreporting coming to light. Reporters from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have spent eight months investigating the fishery and trade of the highly... ...Read more »

The European Union’s Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has called for a significant cut in catches of East Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and East Atlantic, ahead of the EU’s leadership role at a major fisheries management meeting next month. Commissioner Maria Damanaki announced her support of a substantial decrease in next year’s total allowable catch of the controversial fish yesterday in Strasbourg, at a meeting of the Greens of the European Parliament. WWF,... ...Read more »