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A Review of Management and Reporting Trends Related to Transshipment Occurring within the IOTC Convention Area

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.

A Review of Management and Reporting Trends Related to Transshipment Occurring in the WCPFC

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.

Ports Task Force Ghana

The Ports Task Force Ghana (PTFG) is working diligently to implement the National Strategy and Action Plan for the implementation of the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and complimentary international instruments and mechanisms. They have identified the threats of allowing IUU fishing to move through their ports for what it does to local fisheries, the economy, and the country's people. Through a detailed course of action and various partnerships, PTFG will work to bring an end to vessels suspected of participating in IUU from entering Ghana's ports.

When Fishing Turns Deadly - The Environmental and Social Impacts of Illegal Trawling in North Sumatra - EJF

Trawling is recognized as ecologically destructive and unsustainable and contributes to widespread IUU fishing in Indonesia. The number of trawlers is highest in North Sumatra, even though trawlers were banned in Indonesian waters in 1980. Indonesian authorities, because of bribery and corruption, have been unwilling to enforce the ban, leading to a rise in trawler activity. Trawlers often illegally enter a 3-mile zone reserved for traditional fishing activities. This invasion has led to ecological harm to the area, a decrease in stock leading to increasingly less income and a collapse of local fisheries, and most alarmingly, high levels of violence and conflict, sometimes leading to death. JALA is working with local fisheries to represent their needs to the Indonesian government and provide a solution for this urgent situation.

Greenpeace - Turn the Tide - Human Rights Abuses and Illegal Fishing in Thailand's Overseas Fishing Industry

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.