Fisheries NGO Accountability.Fish is once again raising the alarm over the lack of transparency within the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission's (WCPFC) member states.

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In particular, the NGO says that 17 member states are actively blocking observers from attending key sessions of its technical and compliance committee (TCC) meeting, which it describes as a failure to uphold their obligations under the UN Fish Stocks Agreement.

These closed-door meetings, in which the TCC report for the fishery gets drafted, have been held without the participation of civil society representatives since the WCPFC was first established 20 years ago.

Accountability.Fish named the members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, also known as the FFA, as the ones blocking observers from entry: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

According to Accountability.Fish, public attendance of the meetings is blocked by FFA members due to their concerns that NGOs may air dirty laundry in public and unfairly scrutinize specific nations.

"By excluding observers from these vital compliance discussions, WCPFC stands alone among tuna [regional fishery management organizations] in blocking civil society's ability to accurately monitor the sustainability of its fisheries," said Accountability.Fish global director Ryan Orgera.

"This lack of transparency is detrimental not just to NGOs, but to a wide range of stakeholders -- including market players, academic researchers, and conservation organizations -- who are shut out of this critical part of the decision-making process."
 
In addition, Accountability.Fish also named Canada, the EU, France, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the US as "complicit" nations that turn a blind eye to the WCPFC's lack of transparency, which it said contradicts their own commitments to ocean governance.