{"id":13948,"date":"2025-05-02T17:22:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T17:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/?p=13948"},"modified":"2025-05-02T17:22:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T17:22:46","slug":"world-tuna-day-were-not-catching-the-opportunity-by-brent-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/2025\/05\/02\/world-tuna-day-were-not-catching-the-opportunity-by-brent-simon\/","title":{"rendered":"World Tuna Day: We\u2019re Not Catching the Opportunity by Brent Simon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re sleeping on one of the Caribbean\u2019s biggest opportunities \u2013 tuna.<\/p>\n<p>Today &#8211; May 2<sup>nd<\/sup>, World Tuna Day, while other regions scramble to save their overfished tuna stocks, here in the Eastern Caribbean, tuna remain severely under fished. That\u2019s not just a fact \u2013 it\u2019s a missed opportunity, and a potential game-changer for our underdeveloped fishing sector.<\/p>\n<p>Yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye \u2013 these tuna species migrate through our open water year-round, largely untouched. With global tuna demand still soaring and consumers shifting toward high-protein, low-fat seafood, our fishers are practically sailing over money, but most remain focused on reef fish, lobster, or pot fish \u2013 because that\u2019s what we\u2019ve always done. It\u2019s time to rethink the way we approach marine harvesting.<\/p>\n<p>Why aren\u2019t we catching more? \u2013 it\u2019s about access, training, and market links. Tuna fishing requires different gear, different strategies, and a shift in mindset. Most of our small-scale fishers aren\u2019t equipped for pelagic fishing, and there\u2019s little incentive without proper buyers or cold storage.<\/p>\n<p>But the blue print is right there:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Targeting migratory tuna stocks<\/strong> can reduce pressure on our reefs and give fishers access to higher-value catches.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Investment in ice plants, processing facilities, and export chains<\/strong> can open up premium markets \u2013 especially for sashimi-grade yellowfin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Training and tech support<\/strong> can help fishers safely transition to long-lining and FAD-based (fish aggregating device) strategies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If we play this right, we\u2019re not just talking food security &#8211; -we\u2019re talking industry transformation. More tuna fishing means more jobs, more exports, and more resilience against climate shocks and market dips. It means building a blue economy that\u2019s smarter, not just bigger.<\/p>\n<p>World Tuna Day shouldn\u2019t be another lip-service date. It should be a rallying cry. The tuna is here. The demand is global, and the industry is open.<\/p>\n<p>So, let\u2019s stop watching others cash in and start fishing for a better future.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/deb5408c-de40-42bf-8951-96bb4220c035.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-13951\" src=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/deb5408c-de40-42bf-8951-96bb4220c035-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/e19330a2-cde7-4439-8e0c-bf0afbe0a463.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-13952\" src=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/e19330a2-cde7-4439-8e0c-bf0afbe0a463-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/9c668b79-fed4-47e5-a141-a70cbe46d0f1.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-13953\" src=\"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/9c668b79-fed4-47e5-a141-a70cbe46d0f1-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re sleeping on one of the Caribbean\u2019s biggest opportunities \u2013 tuna. Today &#8211; May 2nd, World Tuna Day, while other regions scramble to save their overfished tuna stocks, here in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-notices"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13955,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948\/revisions\/13955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}