W20: Tuna Update

 In W20 in the tuna landscape, it was stated that Thailand was the world's top exporter of canned tuna in 2022. Thailand is Korea’s largest supplier for frozen skipjack tuna and the fifth-largest seafood supplier. Sales of fish and seafood in Thailand grew 7% annually to 1.7M tons in 2022 due to the increasing seafood consumption and a rebound in the tourism industry. Seafood processing is one of Thailand's major industries.

Vietnam's tuna exports to France decreased by 38% in the first 3 months of 2023 due to a sharp increase in food prices, leading to a decrease in imports from other countries. As for Vietnam's tuna exports to the US, it also decreased by 53% in the first three months of 2023, reaching USD 64M due to a continuous decline in the Q4 of 2022.

The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has permitted 29 Turkish fishing vessels to catch bluefin tuna in the eastern Mediterranean and off the coast of Malta from May 15 to July 1, 2023, within the 2.6KT of quota allocated by ICCAT for 2023.