Monthly newsletter of the tuna fishing industry

Prices of raw tuna have been holding steady through May and early June. Skipjack in Samoa is still about $400 per short ton for 47.5 lbs. In
Bangkok, there were signs of recovery in May when price recovered slightly to $430 per metric ton (MT). It was reported that in early June,
about 4000 MT were traded in Bangkok between $420$430 per MT.

Fishing continues to be fair in the Western Pacific, but it is was very good off of Ecuador for skipiack and bigeye tuna in May. In early June,
there were signs of tuna moving upward towards Colombia; however, this could only affect the small tuna vessels making short trips off of
Ecuador. Overall, the Ecuadorean canners are full to capacity. The price of skipjack is currently the same as in Bangkok. At the end of May,
the price of large yellowfin in Mexico was still around $750/MT, but in Colombia it was about $800$850/MT.

Ten months ago, the United Tuna Cooperative (UTC) which markets the catch of 17 U. S. tuna purse seiners headed by Mr. Paul Krampe
urged a voluntary reduction in fish catches by staying in port. Although the Taiwanese and Korean fleets shared the sentiment, they had
difficulty implementing the measure in their own fleets. Unfortunately, this sentiment was not shared by many fleets around the world.
Today, many tuna vessels have been forced to stay in port due to financial difficulties.

Fishing in the Indian Ocean has been very good, and there are many carriers around with unsold fish. However supply in the WTP is not
expected to increase. There is an annual seasonal trend of a drop in catch volumes during the monsoon season. With the upcoming
monsoon season in the WTP and with many vessels staying in port, it is expected that catching volumes in the WTP may go down.

In Quito, Ecuador's capital, it was announced that gasoline prices will be raised 66% to 8O U.S. cents a gallon, while the cost of diesel will
be raised 81% to 60 cents a gallon in order to help cut the budget deficit and meet the economic targets agreed to with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). The fuel price increases are a key part of the government's attempt to eliminate subsidies and improve its economy
to meet the conditions of a $300 million loan from the IMF. To help offset the impact of higher fuel prices, the government proposed a jump
in the minimum wage by 125% to $116.00 a month. This proposal must be approved by congress and will therefore not be imposed
immediately. It is estimated that state wages would rise between 48% to 70%. Subsidized fuel prices and low labor cost are the key factors
that have made it possible for the Ecuadorean fleets to remain relatively stable during this crisis while the rest of the fleets around the
world are desperately fighting to survive. It remains to be seen, how these changes would affect the supply from the ETP.

There is no doubt that the excessive catches of tuna and skipjack in Ecuador, plus the Spanish controlled ETP fleet, and some of the WTP
fleets had led to the Situation in 1999 and possibly all through 2000. The markets are flooded with cheap, Iowquality canned tuna and the
big three US light meat canners plus the private label traders have become more and more speculative. In addition to their heavy
inventories, there is speculation that prices of canned tuna will continue to decline. Buyers from Europe and the USA fear that the
copacking canners will continue to lower their offers even farther just to keep their plants working and liquidate some of their raw material.
The Thai canners who are oversupplied thanks to the good catches are aggressively lowering their offers. There are rumors that some
Thai canners are willing to take any resonable offer.

In Germany, the oversupply of canned tuna has been very damaging to the importers. Several importers are carrying large inventories of
canned tuna at an average price of $15.50 CF Hamburg. Without even speculating lower prices, many importers are forced to offer their
canned tuna to the wholesalers at $14.75 with 30day payment terms just to liquidate their inventories. Importers can only guess on how far
their colleagues are willing to dump their prices in desperation. With no earnings left for the importers, there is very little hope that they will
be placing large orders soon.

The rest of the European market is a battlefield for the canned tuna market. In the UK, over 50% of the market is held by Heinz/John West
and Princes Food. Starkist/Heinz gained a significant market share when they purchased the U.K. market leader, John West. In order to
supply the market, StarKist/HeInz increased imports from their own canneries in Ghana and Seychelles. Likewise, U.K. tuna importer,
Princes Foods also increased imports from their own cannery in Mauritius. As a result, Thai exports fell 20%. Other casualties include
Turkey, Fiji, Maldives, Madagascar, and Senegal who have increased their efforts in other parts of Europe to compensate their loss in the
UK market. Competition in the European market also include canneries from the Philippines, South America, and Africa.

On May 15th, Thai Union Frozen Products, reported that firstquarter profits fell 28%. Thai Union earned 374 million baht ($9.6 million), or 5
baht per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with 518 million baht, or 8.35 baht per share, during the same period last
year. Sales fell 9% to 4.1 billion baht. The company blames "reduced margins" for the decline. The company is expanding sales of frozen
shrimp to offset a decline in tuna exports, President Thiraphong Chansiri said in a statement. The company earned a net 1.76 billion baht
last year. About half of the sales came from tuna exports, with the rest from other seafood such as shrimp and fish. Most of Thai Union's
processed seafood is sold on a retail basis through its customer's brands, except for 'Chicken of the Sea', which Thai Union bought in July
1997.

According to IATTC reports, the total yellowfin catch in the ETP as of May 22, 2000 was 123,009 MT, compared to 133,238 MT for the same
period in 1999. The skipjack catch in the ETP for the same period in 2000 was 131,514 MT compared to 111,330 MT for 1999. The bigeye
catch in the ETP for the same period in 2000 was still ahead of 1999 by 31,223 MT (291,780 MT for 2000, versus 260,557 metric tons for
1999). If bigeye catch rates continue at the current rate, the IATTC estimates that the provisional quota established in October 1999 of
40,000 MT will be reached in July or August 2000. As part of the provision established, once the quota is taken, fishermen must not use
floating objects including fish aggregating devices or FADs.

On April 12th, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said the Commerce Department improperly concluded the change in standards for
"dolphin safe" tuna would not have a significant adverse impact on dolphins. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by some environmental
groups who have argued that labeling change a year ago by the Commerce Department amounted to a weakening of US. laws protecting
dolphins.

The Commerce Department had planned to allow the "dolphinsafe" label for tuna imported from Mexico, which has the largest tuna fleet.
The agency last year said it lacked evidence that the nets harmed dolphins. Under a 1997 law, if that finding were finalized, it would allow
tuna caught by net encirclement to be labeled "dolphinsafe" as long as observers an the boat verified that no dolphins were hurt in nets.
But Henderson said the department failed to complete testing of dolphins that were repeatedly captured and released a test required by
1997 law. The judge said that the label change must not happen until the agency considers preliminary results from the tests now under
way and issues a new finding based on those results. The first samples from those tests should be available in several months, said Jim
Lecky, an assistant regional administrator with the National Marine Fisheries Service. The judge did not address the 1997 law lifting the
import ban on tuna caught with nets, only whether the label could be used when tuna is known to be caught that way. The three processors
share about 90% of the U.S. tuna market.

Commerce Secretary Daley announced in April that the government was formally lifting its embargo on Mexican tuna, imposed in 1991
because of dolphin killing. The Mexican government said that exporting tuna would be futile as long as U.S. courts prevent their use of a
"dolphinsafe" label.

The U.S. Department of Commerce responded to the Judge's ruling by saying that the Department of Commerce is very disappointed with
the court decision concerning the "dolphinsafe" tuna label. The decision threatens one of the most successful international conservation
programs in history. Under the International Dolphin Conservation Program, dolphin mortality in the Eastern Pacific Ocean has declined
99% from levels of just a decade ago. Today, dolphin mortality is one fifteenth of I% of the estimated dolphin modern conservation
regimes. The Department of Commerce firmly believes that the court decision is wrong and should be overturned in order to prevent ham
to the lnternational Dolphin Conservation Program and to ensure the gains that have been achieved in protecting dolphins.

For more information on the Tuna Fishing Industry visit the Casamar Home Page at www.casamarintl.com for the
nearest full-service and sales facility in your part of the world or the latest product designed specifically for the Tuna
Fishing Industry.

Crow's Nest is the first monthly in-depth
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