World tuna conference in
Bangkok
outlines problems the industry faces
By Jon Fernquest
The days of cheap canned tuna
are over. The global supply of tuna is decreasing while demand
continues to increase. This means that the price of tuna will rise in
the future.
The price of tuna has already started to increase this year, an extreme example being the price of the skipjack species of tuna which almost doubled in price from $800-1,000 last year to US$1,600 per tonne this year.
The world tuna industry gathered this week in Bangkok for a conference, the 10th Infofish World Tuna Trade Conference and Exhibition or just Tuna 2008 (See conference site).
The causes behind decreasing global tuna supplies were a major topic of discussion.
Rising world oil prices and declining stocks of tuna living in the world's oceans are the main causes of declining supply.
Overfishing is the main culprit. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) sets guidelines for fishery conservation that could prevent overfishing. The fishing of some species such as bluefin has been restricted because the species faces possible extinction. (See FAO report and article and Greenpeace article "Where have all the tuna gone?").
Fishing boats need diesel fuel to operate and with world oil prices rising, the cost of operating fishing boats and catching tuna has been rising as well. Rising fuel costs could eventually idle up to a third of all fishing boats (See AFP article today).
Thailand leads the world in the export of canned tuna. The United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, Libya and Saudi Arabia are the main export markets. Thailand is also the world's biggest tuna importer because it does not have its own tuna supply. In 2007 tuna exports fell 5% to 500,000 tonnes, while imports fell 7% to 730,000 tonnes.
Other factors play a role in the competitiveness of Thailand's tuna exports on world markets. A stronger baht and trade barriers such as tariffs can lead to reduced exports. Quality and hygiene standards must also be monitored and followed to ensure continued sucess of Thai tuna in world export markets.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, page B1, 29-05-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
tuna - a species of fish that is
popular all over the world as food, recently some tuna have been
overfished and are at risk of extinction (See Wikipedia) ปลาทูน่า
a species - a group of plants or
animals that can breed with each other and have babies together
สายพันธุ์
a culprit - the person who did
something wrong ผู้กระทำความผิด
Food and Agricultural
Organisation (FAO)
- the United Nations agency dealing with food and agriculture worldwide
(See Wikipedia)
guidelines - rules to help guide action
แนวทาง นโยบาย
conservation - saving and protecting
the environment, especially animal and animal species from
extinction อนุรักษ์
fishery conservation - protecting the fish living
in an area from extinction (disappearance, zero supply)
อนุรักษ์พันธุ์สัตว์น้ำ
extinction - death of all living members
of a species of animal or plant การสูญพันธุ์
idle - not being used หยุดนิ่ง
ไม่ดำิเนินการ
competitiveness - how well a business can do
compared to other firms (does it have lower price or higher quality?)
การแข่งขัน
trade barriers - rules, policies, and
tariffs that a government makes to prvent imports from entering the
country โยบายป้องการหลั่งไหลของสินค้าต่างชาติเข้าประเทศ
tariffs - taxes on imports (to make
foreign goods less competitive in a country) พิกัดอัตราภาษีศุลกากร
standards - a level of quality or
achievement that must be passed to be acceptable มาตรฐาน
hygiene standards - a level of cleanliness that
much be achieved มาตรฐานด้านความสะอาดปลอดภัย
monitored - regularly check on some
activity, to see how it is progressing and developing, and whether it
is having any problems ตรวจสอบ