Call for Pacific regional fisheries committee to ban trans-shipping

San Francisco, CALIFORNIA — American researchers are calling for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Committee to ban trans-shipping.

The Pew Charitable Trust said tens of millions of dollars each year was lost to the practice of offloading catch before it reached its final destination.

A 2016 survey found that dozens of vessels were likely carrying out unauthorized trans-shipment in the Pacific.

Lead author Mark Young said the commission needed to introduce stronger monitoring processes, including mandatory fishing observers.

"Just taking a look at the public information that was available, the way they manage it was compromised because of the amount of information gaps or non-standardised reporting, or even the lack of reporting."

Mr Young said changes would come down to the political will of Pacific member states.