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The Voluntary Guidelines for Transshipment address the regulation, monitoring and control of transshipment of fish, which have not been previously landed, whether processed or not. They are elaborated to complement and support existing and new efforts and policies recognizing that all available means in accordance with international law and other international instruments, should be used to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and fishing related activities in support of IUU fishing.

The number of reported high-seas transshipment events in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Convention Area has increased by over 94% between 2014 and 2018. This growth in transshipment activity has not been met with equal management and monitoring regulations. The Commission implemented Resolution 18-06 requiring that all transshipments occur in port but allows large-scale tuna fishing vessels (LSTVs) to transship at sea if they are authorized by their flag CPC and comply with other specific requirements. However, this paper analyzes transshipment operations reported to have occurred within the IOTC Convention Area and finds that the resolution has flaws and that high-seas transshipment is increasing with insufficient monitoring and compliance. All of these problems are given a recommendation on how to address them.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) has seen a staggering growth in transshipment activity within its Convention Area. Using publicly available information on transshipment
operations within the WCPFC, the WCPFC provides an analysis of transshipment and recognizes the need for additional management rules on transshipment within its Convention Area. Their analysis shows flaws in managing transshipment events and sharing and reporting data between other RFMOs and within their own carrier observers. Implementation of the best practices developed by the Pew Charitable Trusts could be a solution to this issue.

In an extensive one-year research on Thailand's overseas fishing fleets, Greenpeace finds that many of Thailand's distant water fishing fleets participate in illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. Despite the Thai government passing regulation in 2015 to control distant fishing fleets, Greenpeace uncovers multiple enduring human rights violations. Many of Thailand's companies, aided by large refrigerated vessels known as "reefers", are once again sailing at sea, continuing practices that lead to trafficking, fatalities, disease, and countless other human rights violations.