August 2001

If you would like to discuss this or other issues affecting the Tuna Industry, please visit our new Discussion Board by clicking here.

Disclaimer: This publication is provided by CASAMAR to its customers for their information only. CASAMAR is not liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Trademarked names are used in an editorial content with no intent in trademark infringement.

Last Full Scale Tuna Cannery in California Closes

The U.S. fleet, which once boasted over 100 tuna purse seiners is now down to 32. Sanford Ltd. of New Zealand announced in mid July that it had purchased two tuna purse seiners the M/V Stella Maris and the M/V Chloe from its U.S. owners. The M/V Stella Maris has been renamed the San Nikunau and the M/V Chloe has been renamed the San Namunea. Both vessels will be fishing in the Western Pacific and delivering their fish to Pago Pago (American Samoa), Fiji, Majuro, and other canneries in the Western Pacific. The vessels will be homeported in New Zealand and will be fishing in that area, "in the summer months, when the Skipjack are at the southern most part of their migration," says Sanford group managing director, Eric Barratt.

As of the later part of July, prices for Skipjack 47.5 lbs in Samoa was around $580$600/ST. That's because prices for Skipjack in Bangkok have continued to fall from $730$750 per MT to $700 recently for Skipjack 47.5lbs. Bangkok canners are testing the waters by bidding even below $700 to see if traders are willing to give in, It looks like traders are trying hard to hold the price at the $700 mark, or from slipping lower.

The price trend for Skipjack within the Eastern Pacific Ocean is the reverse. Catches of Skipjack for the Ecuadorian fleet continue to be disappointing. Skipjack prices moved up over the past months from $700 to close to $800 per MT by late July. Skipjack 47.5lbs in Ecuador were $750$770 per MT and around $925 per MT for 20+ Skipjack. In Colombia, price of Yellow Fin over 20lbs were about $925$950 per MT.

On July 23, the United States Federal Court of Appeals again delayed the entry of tuna caught by chasing or encircling around dolphins into the United states. This includes most of the tuna caught by the Mexican tuna fleet. The delay has infuriated the Mexican Tuna Vessel operators. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling last year that further studies by the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries) must be conducted before allowing tuna caught with purse seine nets be labeled "dolphin safe" if observers had not seen dolphins killed or serious injured.

In 1997, in an effort to find a compromise on fishing trade barriers, particularly with Mexico, U.S. Congress passed a proposal from the Commerce department to change the standard of the "Dolphin Safe Label" sold in the United States.

Mexico's tuna fishing industry threatened to abandon the dolphin conservation program it followed since 1990 if the legal barriers are not lifted. A threat that undermines the international efforts to preserve dolphin populations worldwide. Earth Island institute, through their spokesman, Mr. Mark Berman said, "Already they hardly have any markets for their fish, and we'll keep closing the markets for dolphindeadly fish". Berman said, "This is a clear signal that it is time for Mexico to join with the rest of the world in promoting dolphin safe tuna".

What's at stake for Mexico? The U.S. market. The major U.S. brands, StarKist®, Bumble Bee®, and Chicken of the Sea® afraid of losing their "dolphin safe" labels refuse to process or purchase tuna that involve the chase or encirclement of dolphins. It will be difficult for producers from Asia and other parts of Latin America to compete with Mexico if the barriers are lifted. Mexico is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an agreement that will eliminate all tariffs on trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada. Mexico's busy tuna port of Ensenada is only two hours by truck to San Diego, California. It can make "justintime" deliveries of canned tuna to the United States from its cannery and warehouse in Mexico. Its close proximity to the, U.S., low wages, and low cost of operations makes it a favorable trading partner to the United States.

The controversy is not over yet. The report from the NMFS is not due in U.S. Congress until 2002. The Court of Appeals have not ruled against the 1997 ruling. It merely agreed with Judge Henderson's original ruling that said that the National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) had dragged its feet on the studies that were required by the 1997 law. The studies are supposed to show whether dolphins are harmed by being repeatedly captured and released. The appeals court noted that the preliminary reports indicated stress from the fishing method was the likely reason for the continued lag in the dolphin population. The appeals court also said that the government (NMFS) has "unreasonably delayed the stress studies," and needs favorable results from those studies before it can legally change the definition.

The NMFS is now planning to do the dolphin stress studies beginning August. A final report of the research on dolphins is due to Congress by the end of next year.

Shilla Co, of the Rep. of Korea launched a new 1600 ton Americanstyle tuna purse seiner in the Marco Shipyard in Chile in June. The Shilla Jupiter joins four other sister ships built within the last ten years at the Campbell Shipyard in San Diego, The Shilla fleet boasts the most efficient equipment and operation in the world with five "practically" identical American vessels all built within the last 10 years. The five vessels are equipped with the world's leading brands of equipment including Casamar nets and gears, The Shilla Jupiter joins the four other Campbell boats in the Western Pacific: the M/V Shilla Challenger, the M/V Shilla Explorer, the M/V Shilla Pioneer, and the M/V Shilla Harvester.

Past Issues of the Crow's Nest

Crow's NEST is provided by CASAMAR to its customers for their information only. CASAMAR is not responsible for any errors or delay: in the content or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

This publication is provided by CASAMAR to its customers for their information only. CASAMAR is not liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Trademarked names are used in an editorial content with no intent in trademark infringement.

If you would like to discuss issues affecting the Tuna Industry, please visit our new Discussion Board by clicking here.

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.

Also, please visit Tuna Port.

[Home Page] [Products]   [Contact Information/Offices]

[ Return to Casamar Home Page | CASAMAR Worldwide Directory ] [ The Casamar Store ]

Chicken of the Sea, a subsidiary of Thai Union Frozen Products Plc (TUF) announced that it will close its cannery in California and layoff its 250 workers. The company announced that it will move the 100 ton/day production to its plant in American Samoa. The "Chicken of the Sea" cannery in San Pedro is the last fullscale cannery in California. Early this year, Heinz moved its pet food operation to Pennsylvania. Bumble Bee still operates a small cannery close to Los Angeles. The closure is blamed on the high costs including wages and taxes. Southern California's tuna industry once included 18 canneries and livelihood for 20,000 people including cannery workers and fishermen. The tuna industry was once so important to the economy of Los Angeles, there is a tuna in the city's official seal.

Crow's Nest is the first monthly in-depth report on the status of the Tuna Industry. For a printed copy of the publication, please e-mail your name and address to: Casamar Group, Inc., and advise them that you would like to get a hard copy of the report.