Hastings Environmental Law Journal Volume 26 Number 2 Summer 2020 Article 2 2020 Shining a Light on High Seas Transhipment: The Need to Strengthen Observer Reporting of Transhipments in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Chris Wold Alfred “Bubba” Cook Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_environmental_law_journal Part of the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation Chris Wold and Alfred “Bubba” Cook, Shining a Light on High Seas Transhipment: The Need to Strengthen Observer Reporting of Transhipments in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, 26 Hastings Envt'l L.J. 185 (2019) Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_environmental_law_journal/vol26/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Environmental Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. HASTINGS ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL (DO NOT DELETE) 11/01/19 Shining a Light on High Seas Transhipment: The Need to Strengthen Observer Reporting of Transhipments in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Chris Wold* & Alfred “Bubba” Cook** I. Introduction The oceans are “enormously wide, deep and nontransparent.”1 Light rapidly dissipates beyond a depth of 200 meters,2 hiding the valuable tuna, swordfish, and other marine fish stocks sought by a global fleet of 4.6 million vessels.3 But the oceans also hide a multitude of sins, including illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, human rights violations, wildlife smuggling, and drug and gun smuggling.4 At the United Nations Security Council, transnational crime on the oceans has been linked to conflicts in Africa, millions of dollars of lost revenue, the spread of weapons, and drug and human trafficking.5 Nowhere is the ability to hide more true than the immense Western and Central Pacific Ocean.