Illegal Tuna Transshipment in Palau

The Philippine fish carrier 'Sal 19', with markings visibly absent from its bow, is seen in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Palau. The Philippine vessel was caught illegally transshipping frozen tuna in the Pacific high seas to the Cambodian-flagged vessel 'Heng Xing 1' on 14 November 2012, where neither of the ships had a valid license to operate. The 'Sal 19' was today found to have breached further international laws and fisheries agreements. These include erasing the vessel name, call sign and home port marking from the exterior of the ship to make it unidentifiable. Other violations uncovered by Greenpeace were the absence of vessel monitoring system (VMS) reporting technology, fishing records and ship logbook. As a member of the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Philippine government is legally bound to take immediate steps to investigate and enforce action against the 'Sal 19'. According to the captain, the vessel is expected to arrived in the Philippine port of General Santos on 28 November 2012, shortly before the start of this year's WCPFC meeting in Manila which will run from 02-07 December 2012 . Illegal activities are rampant in international waters around the world, where laws and enforcement are at their weakest. Greenpeace is calling for a network of marine reserves to be established in four high seas pockets known as the Pacific Commons, and for these be declared off limits to fishing.