In order to increase its installed capacity, in Guatemala the company Rianxeira invested $2.5 million in the commissioning of two new industrial buildings.
Thailand and Spain are markets with global potential to increase their consumption of frozen tuna, and in the case of fresh or refrigerated tuna fillets, the United States is expected to increase its demand in the coming years.
As new lifestyles in Europe are increasing the need for easy-to-use/prepare and value-added fish formats as consumers find it difficult to cook and prepare fish, tuna has multiple opportunities in the present and future.
The Costa Rican Tuna Industry Chamber warned about the possibility that the government will publish a decree that would extend the ban zone for the purse tuna fishery to a distance of between 100 and 150 miles from the Pacific coast.
According to the sector's union, this decree, which is in the drafting stage, would put at risk the fulfillment of the export commitments of canned fish to the world's main markets.
Given the rise in tuna consumption reported between February and August, in Costa Rica the company that owns Sardimar increased its production by 25%.
After the context of the new commercial reality that arose from the outbreak of covid-19 the demand for tuna increased, Alimentos Prosalud, owner of Sardimar, hired more than 300 additional employees to work in its plant in Barranca, Puntarenas.
As a result of the crisis generated by the spread of the coronavirus, producers predict that the demand for tuna in Central America will grow by about 50%.
Representatives of the Spanish conglomerate Calvo Group, say that in Panama the inventory of tuna prepared for all of March was exhausted in three days, due to the health emergency that markets in the region are going through.
The investment of Grupo Calvo in El Salvador will be used to acquire a ship, to build a new production floor and a refrigerated area.
Representatives from the company reported that the investment is part of the start of a process of expanding their operations, which will be focused mainly on increasing the supply of tuna.
Licenses will be granted in the Exclusive Economic Zone only up until 5,847 metric tons have been fished and to foreign vessels that demonstrate they have put all of their catch into domestic processors.
From a statement issued by the President of Costa Rica:
The Board of the Costa Rican Institute of Fishing and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA) has decided to limit tuna fishing permits for this year, 2017, as an interim measure while a new model is implemented to organise this activity.
The government has announced that it will modify the cost of licenses for tuna fishing in Costa Rican waters in order to adapt them to international market prices.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Costa Rica:
In order to improve the utilization of one Costa Rica's largest resources and ensure long-term sustainability, the Executive has issued an Executive Order in which the model for regulating this activity in the country has been reformulated.
Opportunities in the Arab country have been announced for chutneys, organic coffee, pastries, organic tuna, dried fruits, plants, flowers and foliage.
The Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) has opened a trade promotion office in Qatar. Alvaro Stone, director of Exports at the office, informed Nacion.com that an official has been based in the premises of the Embassy of Costa Rica in that country since late last year.
The Americas Tuna Conference 2016 (AMatuna2016) is a two-day tuna industry event that will take place in Panama City, Panama on January 28th and 29th at the Riu Plaza Hotel.
The Americas Tuna Conference 2016 (AMatuna2016) is a two-day tuna industry event that will take place in Panama City, Panama on January 28th and 29th at the Riu Plaza Hotel.
The required health and phytosanitary protocols were signed in order to authorize the export of tuna, fresh pineapple and prawns.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Trade:
San Jose, September 29, 2015. As part of the visit by Minister Zhi Shuping, maximum chief of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the PRC (AQSIQ) required health and phytosanitary protocols were signed, authorizing the export of tuna and fresh pineapple from Costa Rica to China, and negotiations for the entry of Costa Rican shrimp to that market were concluded.
Grupo Calvo is preparing to start exporting to Russia in the first half of the year and plans to invest $3 million in improvements to its plants in El Salvador.
The tuna company is also aiming to increase its exports to England, Germany, Vietnam and Belgium. It also plans to diversify its offerings in the food sector, moving into production and marketing of spicy sauces and seasonings.
Canned tuna is preferred over presentations in glass or tetra pak containers, with increased demand reported in varieties of yellow and albacore tuna.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The consumption of canned tuna in the Middle East is concentrated in Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which depend entirely on imports, coming mainly from Thailand (86.4%), Italy (7.4%) and other Southeast Asian countries among these, the Philippines and Indonesia, with 6.6%.
42% of total production corresponds to anchovies and herring, 43% to industrial and artisanal scale fishing, 7% to tuna and the remaining 8% to other fish and aquaculture products.
One of the factors which explains the preponderance of anchovies and herring in the total fish production is that both types of fish are used for fishmeal and fish oil.
Through a government decree commercial fishing for tuna and other species has been limited to two specific areas of the Pacific coast in Costa Rica.
The first area will extend up to 40 nautical miles (74 km) from the coast and the second will be located beyond 40 nautical miles, in which larger scale longliners can operate, and between the two there will be a buffer zone.