Enhancing CCAMLR’s compliance regime

All over the world, transhipment operations have been repeatedly identified as activities of concern to fisheries regulators due to their potential to help facilitate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Moreover, CCAMLR’s Second Performance Review has recommended that CCAMLR improve its regulation of transhipment activities, but CCAMLR has failed to agree on new measures. CCAMLR has now fallen behind regional fisheries bodies, many of whom have adopted much stricter rules. ASOC therefore recommends that CCAMLR take action with respect to the following aspects of transhipment: • Reporting: CCAMLR should adopt a standardized reporting form and require reporting of all transhipment events. • Authorized vessels: CCAMLR should maintain a public list of authorized vessels that includes the vessel name, flag, type, registration number, authorizations period, and IMO number. • Monitoring: The Commission should mandate that all authorized carrier vessels carry a VMS transmitting simultaneously to both the flag State and Secretariat. • Chain of custody: The e-CDS should be amended to include the recording and tracing of all transhipped catches. • Declaration forms: CCAMLR should require use of a standardized transhipment declaration form. • Observer coverage: CCAMLR should explicitly require 100 percent observer coverage for all vessels involved in transhipments. • Transparency: CCAMLR should request the Secretariat to provide a detailed public annual summary report of all in-port and at-sea transhipment operations involving the transfer of catches from the Convention Area.