Aquaculture for all

Weekly Overview: Falsely Labelled FAD Free Canned Tuna Thought to be Circulating EU Market

Health Tuna Water quality +9 more

ANALYSIS - In this week's news, consumers are being told to watch out for canned tuna that has been falsely labelled FAD (fish aggregating device) free tuna, writes Lucy Towers, TheFishSite Editor.

Lucy Towers thumbnail

EuropĂȘche, the main representative body speaking for the European fishing industry, says that some canned tuna products appearing on the EU market are falsely claiming to have been caught without the use of FADs.

Commenting on the matter, a spokesperson from Europeche said: "Currently it seems that some importers deal with FAD Free tuna based on captain certificates about how tuna was caught. In those certificates, there is a variety of confirmations signed by the captains, among which is certified that tuna was caught with no FADs."

The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) is organising the US's first National Roundtable for Sustainable Aquaculture (NRSA). The roundtable will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, 25-26 March.

Scientists from the US Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have discovered that oysters living in nutrient rich shallow waters around the world are far more likely to pick up the lethal Dermo disease.

Oxygen loss in the shallows is a global phenomenon, but it is not nearly as well known as the dead zones of the deep. Unlike deep-water dead zones, which can persist for months, oxygen in shallow waters swings in day-night cycles, called diel-cycling hypoxia.

When algae photosynthesize during the day, they release oxygen into the water. But at night, when photosynthesis stops, plants and animals continue to respire and take oxygen from the water, causing dissolved oxygen to drop. Lack of oxygen can cripple the oysters' ability to fight off the parasite Perkinsus marinus that causes Dermo and slowly takes over their bodies.

The Indonesian government has set a target to double aquaculture production to 31 million tons by 2019.

Currently, the country produces only 13.3 million tons of fish from aquaculture worth Rp 112.70 trillion, reported the Jakarta Post.

Create an account now to keep reading

It'll only take a second and we'll take you right back to what you were reading. The best part? It's free.

Already have an account? Sign in here