Tuna prices aren't taking the usual trend this year, and while the start of the annual WCPFC FAD ban has previously spurred significant increases in the market, this year, decline has hit as the closure period kicks off.

Slipping six percent in just over a week, the Bangkok whole round skipjack price now sits at a level of USD 1,400 per ton for July delivery, credited mostly to the general low end market demand, and the inability for traders to sell at higher levels.

In previous years, the run up to the FAD ban, which starts on July 1st each year and lasts at least three months, has brought expectations that they'll be a cut in whole round skipjack supply in major markets like Bangkok, and with that, prices have climbed. 

Deliveries of whole round albacore to Thai tuna canners last year were cut by a third compared to 2014, as the industry was faced with alarming figures on the state of the species' stock.

Just over 34,000 tons of albacore tuna was landed in Bangkok over 2015, a sharp 32 percent fall YoY, and the volume is only likely to take further hits this year, as several nations take voluntary measures to help Pacific populations recover.

Towards the close of last year, the alarming news that southern albacore stocks were at just 40 percent of their pre­fished levels, shocked some countries into limiting the amount of licenses available to vessels targeting albacore tuna in their EEZs. This was on the back of the annual WCPFC meeting in December ending with no agreement to set an ideal stock level for southern albacore tuna.