The World Wildlife Fund says the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission risks losing relevance if it doesn't develop mechanisms to hold distant fishing nations to account.
Frozen albacore tuna offloaded in Lami, Fiji Photo: RNZ / Philippa Tolley
The WWF's Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager, Bubba Cook, says expansive fishing fleets from countries like China in the Pacific have created a crisis for local fishers and pose a big threat to the sustainability of stocks.
He says some of these countries show complete disregard for the authority of the Commission.
Mr Cook adds that fishing activities on the high seas remains a major black hole that Pacific nations need to tighten up on.
"The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission overall, the membership is at risk of becoming irrelevant very quickly if they don't figure out a way to be more forceful about the way they address the reluctance or the non-compliance of some of these nations to provide fundamental data that is neccessary to manage the fisheries."
The World Wildlife Fund's Bubba Cook.
