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The TCN convened its 3rd Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, from 22 to 24 February 2019. The Workshop focused on procedures to assess compliance in tuna RFMOs and gathered, among others, the officers responsible for compliance of the five tuna RFMOs and all Chairs of the Compliance Committees of these RFMOs.

The performance of an RFMO can be compromised if members do not comply effectively with the CMMs they have created for themselves. Building on past work to analyze and support improved RFMO compliance mechanisms, in 2020, The Pew Charitable Trusts, in collaboration with the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and other stakeholders, convened an Expert Workshop on Best Practices in Compliance in RFMOs to help identify challenges in RFMO compliance review mechanisms and suggest solutions for addressing these challenges. This report covers the range of ideas presented at the Workshop.

This paper reports on the Second Virtual Expert Workshop on Best Practices in Compliance in RFMOs convened in March 2021 by The PEW Charitable Trust and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation. The second Workshop focused on the issue of transparency, which was regarded by participants at the first Workshop as a potential driver of improved quality of information, better data exchange internal to RFMOs and among States and RFMOs, stronger verification mechanisms and increased external confidence in RFMO compliance processes.
This report outlines the challenges and potential solutions when considering transparency across the various facets, roles and functions in RFMOs and, in particular, compliance review and assessment processes.

The Tuna Compliance Network (TCN) was established to facilitate communication and cooperation between officers responsible for compliance and experts in Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance. Implementing Conservation and Management Measures, specifically for highly migratory species like Tuna, can be challenging for RFMOs; however, as an informal network, TCN provides a unique opportunity for the exchange of information to take place between tuna RFMOs.

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.