U.S. tuna demand has recovered from the depths of the COVID-19 crisis, but lower catches and COVID-19-related challenges are putting pressure on tuna supply in the U.S. market, according to Liancheng Overseas Fishery Senior Vice President of Marketing Joe Murphy.
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China-based Liancheng operates its tuna fishery as three interconnected fishing companies: Liancheng Overseas Fishery (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd (SZLC), China Southern Fishery Shenzhen Co. Ltd (CSFC), and Liancheng Overseas Fishery (FSM) Co. Ltd. (FZLC). All of Liancheng’s tuna operations achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification for yellowfin tuna in October 2018, and its Micronesian bigeye operations were awarded MSC certification in 2019.
Demand for MSC-certified tuna is increasing in the U.S., according to Murphy.
“From our perspective, both the fresh and frozen markets are seeing strong demand for tuna,” Murphy told SeafoodSource.
However the yellowfin and albacore catch “has been poor” and is “substantially trailing last year” in the areas where Liancheng operates – the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Cook Islands.
The company is still feeling the impacts of the pandemic, “particularly on vessel tie-ups, crew changes, shipping slowdown and restricted travel to our Pacific Island bases for technical repairs and base improvement projects,” Murphy said.
“The fleets continue to struggle with crew changes and also with the big jumps in fuel costs,” he said. “We estimate around 30 percent of agent boats are temporarily out of service and not fishing. Transporting fish by reefer container is now costing over four times the amount from 2019, and at the same time, keeping customers in stock is challenging due to port congestion and delayed unloading of container ships.”
Murphy told SeafoodSource in 2019 that Liancheng was hoping for a big boost from the Tokyo Olympics, but this didn’t materialize due to the pandemic, he said.
“We did not experience any noticeable demand for MSC tuna during the Tokyo Olympics as expected,” he said. “I expect this was due to the limited number of spectators attending.”
Photo courtesy of Liancheng Overseas Fishery
