To the PNA, the current level and regulation of transshipping in the high seas are inconsistent with the WCPF convention objective.

Pacific Islands countries call for high sea tuna transshipment measures

Pacific Island fisheries leaders have urged the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to effectively address a serious management gap in the tuna fishery: high seas tuna transshipments.

In a letter last month to WCPFC Executive Director Feleti Teo, Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Committee Chairperson Tepaeru Herrmann expressed the concern of the organisation members, including the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) bloc, that insufficient regulation, monitoring and reporting of tuna transshipment, particularly on the high seas, was contributing to distort the reporting of catches.

Herrmann said the current system of unmonitored transshipments on the high seas also exposed WCPFC members, cooperating non-members and participating territories (known as CCMs), and the wider Pacific region, to increased risks of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and transnational criminal activity.

The aim of FFA members is to see all transshipments in the WCPFC area occurring in port. The FFA’s position is consistent with Article 29 of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention which provides that “the members of the Commission shall encourage their vessels, to the extent practicable, to conduct transshipment in port.”

Countries that are part of the PNA (Photo: Stock File)

The PNA already requires all purse seine vessels operating in their waters to transship tuna in ports, which allows for monitoring of catch and other compliance measures to be enforced.

PNA is also gearing to implement a ban on high seas bunkering for fishing vessels by fuel tankers beginning in 2020. Currently, however, only a fraction of longline vessels transship their tuna catches in the ports of FFA members.

Greenpeace International campaigners witness how tuna is offloaded from a longliner to a reefer.  Known as transshipping, this is a fishing operation that has little monitoring. This can lead to reefers, owned by international companies, receiving unsustainably or illegally caught tuna. (Photo: Greenpeace) + CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE THE VIDEO +

FFA Director General Dr. Manu Tupou-Roosen and PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoru in comments, during the ongoing annual meeting of the WCPFC in Honolulu, stated that the current level and regulation of high seas transshipment activity is inconsistent with the objective of the WCPF Convention.

Under the current WCPFC measure, there is to be no transshipment on the high seas except where a CCM has determined it is impracticable for its vessels to operate without being able to transship on the high seas. The measure requires CCMs to inform the WCPFC of any of their vessels transshipping on the high seas.

Transhipment of tuna from a freezer purse-seine vessel. (Photo: Stock File)

The WCPFC measure requires a declaration prior to transshipping on the high seas, and a report after the operation is completed. A Final Compliance Monitoring Review report, which will address compliance with these and other provisions of the measure, is to be issued as part of the review of the 2009 measure scheduled for next year.

The basis for approving high seas transshipments is that prohibition would cause significant economic hardship to vessels. This would be assessed in terms of the costs incurred and if in-port transshipment would require the vessel to make significant and substantial changes to its historical mode of operation as a result of the prohibition of transshipment on the high seas.

Dr. Tupou-Roosen noted the initiatives of many members to roll out electronic monitoring systems on longline vessels as a means of improving coverage for a sector of the Pacific tuna fishery that is currently not well monitored.

“Our position is to move as quickly as possible to a complete ban of all high seas transshipment. PNA already requires all purse seiners to transship their catch in port. We think all transshipments should take place in ports in our region. In-port transshipment generates economic benefits for our members as well as eliminating IUU and other risks inherent in unmonitored high seas transshipments,” Kumoru concluded.

Related article:

- PNA steps up fishing aggregating device management in Pacific tuna fishery
 
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