New Tuna Market Developments: Global Tuna Market Divergence Intensifies; EU "Vision 2040" Sparks Industry Discussion; Peru and Ecuador Cooperate to Strengthen Tuna Fishing Regulation
The Volga-Caspian Regional Administration of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency will auction seven river plots in Astrakhan Region on November 27 on the "RTS-tender" electronic platform for industrial aquaculture, with applications accepted until November 19.
Argentine diplomat Figueroa, writing in Supernova magazine, proposes that Argentina advance a Sustainable Ocean Plan (POS) to coordinate marine and coastal spatial planning and end the fragmented approach to ecological protection, production development, food security and ocean governance.
The 29th China International Fisheries Expo (October 28-30, 2026) opened today at the Qingdao Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center. This year's expo covers an exhibition area of 117,600 square meters, with 1,617 companies from 50 countries/regions registered to exhibit, including 27 national/regional pavilions and 16 domestic pavilions.
Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association signed the VEFTA free trade agreement on October 18, 2026. The agreement is expected to take effect in early 2027, opening the markets of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to Vietnamese seafood exports. In the first 9 months of 2026, Vietnam's seafood exports to Switzerland exceeded US$25 million and exports to Norway reached US$12 million, down 10% and 5% year-on-year respectively.
Sakhalin Region Fisheries Minister Ivan Radchenko disclosed that as of October 6, only 11,600 tonnes of Pacific salmon had been caught in the region, far below the forecast 37,000 tonnes; over the same period, herring catches reached 134,000 tonnes, up 67.8% year-on-year.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) released its 2026 Census Action Plan and Highlights Report on 28 October 2026, with the plan adopting an agency-wide approach to fostering a culture of engagement, collaboration and wellbeing.
The Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee has issued a document requiring coastal communes and wards and relevant departments to focus on managing non-compliant fishing vessels, standardizing data, handling violations, and fully completing accepted vessel deregistration files within October 2026.
On October 14, 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued Decision No. 3885/QĐ-BNNMT, setting out the operational procedure for inspection and traceability of raw captured aquatic materials at processing enterprises, covering the full chain from import and domestic purchase through processing, storage and export, and linking verification results to compliance in combating IUU fishing.
The Yenisei Territorial Administration of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency has a new head: Sergei Viktorovich Kiselev has assumed the post of director of the administration effective October 27, 2026, by order of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Brett Glencross, Technical Director of IFFO, and Dave Robb, Sustainability Director for Aquaculture Nutrition at Cargill, noted at the IFFO annual conference that adjustments to aquafeed formulations lack complete environmental data support; European research from 2000 to 2020 shows the feed carbon footprint grew about fourfold, land occupation about eightfold, and water use about threefold.
The former girlfriend of the late Nova Sea heir Håkon Vigner Lindal Olaisen sued over NOK 10 million agreed upon during his lifetime; the Oslo District Court ruled on 21 September to dismiss her claim.
A joint study by Nippon Suisan Kaisha (Nissui) and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition has, for the first time through meta-analysis, confirmed that Japanese adults with habitually high fish and shellfish intake have a 6% lower all-cause mortality risk and a 15% lower cardiovascular disease mortality risk than low-intake groups. The paper was published online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition on October 23, 2026.
On October 8, 2026, Illinois consumer Elijah Baptist filed a class action against Walmart in the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleging that its Great Value frozen shrimp bags count glaze weight in the net weight, and that after thawing and draining, the actual shrimp content is about 11% less than labeled. The U.S. FDA has prohibited counting glaze weight in seafood net weight since 1991.
On October 23, 2026, the Trump administration unveiled the "America First Seafood Strategy," rolling out measures across five main directions to support domestic fisheries, develop aquaculture and enhance the competitiveness of U.S. seafood products, including a voluntary "U.S.-Caught Seafood" label and a nationwide "Eat American Seafood" promotional campaign.
As of 25 October, the Primorye subarea of the Russian Far East has landed 2,798 tonnes of sardine, 14 tonnes of mackerel and 358 tonnes of Pacific saury; sardine and mackerel fishing in the South Kuril Islands area has still not started.
A gold mining company in the Neryungri District of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, Russia, built a dam without permits, diverting the flow of the Timpton River and draining its channel. The court fully upheld the claim filed by the Yakut Nature Protection Prosecutor's Office; the compensation of over 5 million rubles has been fully enforced and paid into the budget.
On October 28, 2026, officials from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development disclosed at the conference "Russian Gastronomy: From Standards to Market" that the gastronomy industry created RUB 513.9 billion in value added for the Russian economy in 2025, accounting for about 6.22% of the total for creative industries, and stated that Russia is promoting regional Russian cuisine through tourism.
VÅRLAKS, the premium salmon brand under Norwegian Seafood Group, announced on October 27, 2026 that it has entered US retailer Lowes Foods with a trial in 25 of the latter's stores, positioning the US as the brand's main growth market.
New Tuna Market Developments: Global Tuna Market Divergence Intensifies; EU "Vision 2040" Sparks Industry Discussion; Peru and Ecuador Cooperate to Strengthen Tuna Fishing Regulation
The Volga-Caspian Regional Administration of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency will auction seven river plots in Astrakhan Region on November 27 on the "RTS-tender" electronic platform for industrial aquaculture, with applications accepted until November 19.
Argentine diplomat Figueroa, writing in Supernova magazine, proposes that Argentina advance a Sustainable Ocean Plan (POS) to coordinate marine and coastal spatial planning and end the fragmented approach to ecological protection, production development, food security and ocean governance.
The 29th China International Fisheries Expo (October 28-30, 2026) opened today at the Qingdao Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center. This year's expo covers an exhibition area of 117,600 square meters, with 1,617 companies from 50 countries/regions registered to exhibit, including 27 national/regional pavilions and 16 domestic pavilions.
Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association signed the VEFTA free trade agreement on October 18, 2026. The agreement is expected to take effect in early 2027, opening the markets of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to Vietnamese seafood exports. In the first 9 months of 2026, Vietnam's seafood exports to Switzerland exceeded US$25 million and exports to Norway reached US$12 million, down 10% and 5% year-on-year respectively.
Sakhalin Region Fisheries Minister Ivan Radchenko disclosed that as of October 6, only 11,600 tonnes of Pacific salmon had been caught in the region, far below the forecast 37,000 tonnes; over the same period, herring catches reached 134,000 tonnes, up 67.8% year-on-year.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) released its 2026 Census Action Plan and Highlights Report on 28 October 2026, with the plan adopting an agency-wide approach to fostering a culture of engagement, collaboration and wellbeing.
The Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee has issued a document requiring coastal communes and wards and relevant departments to focus on managing non-compliant fishing vessels, standardizing data, handling violations, and fully completing accepted vessel deregistration files within October 2026.
On October 14, 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued Decision No. 3885/QĐ-BNNMT, setting out the operational procedure for inspection and traceability of raw captured aquatic materials at processing enterprises, covering the full chain from import and domestic purchase through processing, storage and export, and linking verification results to compliance in combating IUU fishing.
The Yenisei Territorial Administration of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency has a new head: Sergei Viktorovich Kiselev has assumed the post of director of the administration effective October 27, 2026, by order of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Brett Glencross, Technical Director of IFFO, and Dave Robb, Sustainability Director for Aquaculture Nutrition at Cargill, noted at the IFFO annual conference that adjustments to aquafeed formulations lack complete environmental data support; European research from 2000 to 2020 shows the feed carbon footprint grew about fourfold, land occupation about eightfold, and water use about threefold.
The former girlfriend of the late Nova Sea heir Håkon Vigner Lindal Olaisen sued over NOK 10 million agreed upon during his lifetime; the Oslo District Court ruled on 21 September to dismiss her claim.
A joint study by Nippon Suisan Kaisha (Nissui) and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition has, for the first time through meta-analysis, confirmed that Japanese adults with habitually high fish and shellfish intake have a 6% lower all-cause mortality risk and a 15% lower cardiovascular disease mortality risk than low-intake groups. The paper was published online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition on October 23, 2026.
On October 8, 2026, Illinois consumer Elijah Baptist filed a class action against Walmart in the Circuit Court of Cook County, alleging that its Great Value frozen shrimp bags count glaze weight in the net weight, and that after thawing and draining, the actual shrimp content is about 11% less than labeled. The U.S. FDA has prohibited counting glaze weight in seafood net weight since 1991.
On October 23, 2026, the Trump administration unveiled the "America First Seafood Strategy," rolling out measures across five main directions to support domestic fisheries, develop aquaculture and enhance the competitiveness of U.S. seafood products, including a voluntary "U.S.-Caught Seafood" label and a nationwide "Eat American Seafood" promotional campaign.
As of 25 October, the Primorye subarea of the Russian Far East has landed 2,798 tonnes of sardine, 14 tonnes of mackerel and 358 tonnes of Pacific saury; sardine and mackerel fishing in the South Kuril Islands area has still not started.
A gold mining company in the Neryungri District of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, Russia, built a dam without permits, diverting the flow of the Timpton River and draining its channel. The court fully upheld the claim filed by the Yakut Nature Protection Prosecutor's Office; the compensation of over 5 million rubles has been fully enforced and paid into the budget.
On October 28, 2026, officials from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development disclosed at the conference "Russian Gastronomy: From Standards to Market" that the gastronomy industry created RUB 513.9 billion in value added for the Russian economy in 2025, accounting for about 6.22% of the total for creative industries, and stated that Russia is promoting regional Russian cuisine through tourism.
VÅRLAKS, the premium salmon brand under Norwegian Seafood Group, announced on October 27, 2026 that it has entered US retailer Lowes Foods with a trial in 25 of the latter's stores, positioning the US as the brand's main growth market.
Japanese seafood group Umios announced on October 27, 2026, that it will acquire 9,638,100 ordinary shares of New Zealand's Sanford Limited at NZD 7.47 per share, for total consideration of NZD 72 million (approximately USD 41 million), with Ngāi Tahu Investments Limited as the seller.
