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The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) manages fishing activity in the Western and Central Pacific Oceans, one of the largest areas in the world and one of the most valuable fisheries in the world. However, their ability to enforce transshipment rules to prevent IUU fishing is severely lacking due to insufficient funds and resources, specifically when it comes to onboard observers. The observers have failed at monitoring the activities of both the fishing vessel and carrier vessel during transshipment and reporting that information for independent verification. By adopting rules already in use by other t-RFMOs, the WCPF can significantly improve its current transshipment regime.

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.