Overview
There is increasing concern among market stakeholders and NGOs about the practice of transport vessels for the catch of purse seine fisheries deploying and retrieving Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) used to catch tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean – and about the opacity of the WCPFC’s compliance process – even after a sanction was applied in one major case.
In this way, various interests around sustainability are seriously at stake, as well as the stability of the supply of sustainable certified tuna of purse seine fisheries in the market supply chain. Consequently, the next regular session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), must urgently clarify the current situation of unclear regulations and finally commit to the transparency of its compliance processes.
Currently, due to the lack of independent observers on board vessels that transport the catch of purse seine tuna fisheries, there is very little control possible over the specific use of FADs on these vessels.
This even though demand for control over the use of FADs is increasing. Indeed, the Environmental Justice Foundation called this spring for ‘decisive action to thoroughly investigate’ the fleet in the Western and Central Pacific, and ‘improve transparency and ensure compliance with international regulations’.
This call came after the EJF’s investigation efforts brought the issue of illegal FAD use to light.
