Illegal Pacific Tuna Transhipment

Greenpeace activists hold up a banner reading "No fish No future" in the hold of the ship 'Heng Xing 1' in an area of international waters near the exclusive economic zone of Indonesia. The Cambodian flagged vessel, was caught illegally transhipping frozen tuna from a Philippine fishing vessel and two other Indonesian vessels in the Pacific high seas, where none of the ships have licenses to operate. Under international law, the lack of a valid license means the vessels forbidden to engage in any fishing activities - including fish transfer. The transshipment of fish from one vessel to another is prohibited in international waters under international law as it has been proven to aid illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities. Greenpeace activists boarded the 'Heng Xing 1' and found the hold to be full of skip jack tuna and juvenile yellowfin, which are likely to be destined for canned tuna markets in the West. Yellowfin tuna is classified on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 'Red List' as 'Near Threatened'. Pirate fishing operations are common in international waters where monitoring and surveillance is difficult. 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.