Key Messages & Vital Statistics
ROP Coverage & Program Updates (2025)
The Regional Observer Programme (ROP) data continue to provide a substantial basis for Commission science, management, and compliance monitoring. The raw, unraised data represents an enormous sampling effort.
- Purse Seine (2025): 20,532 sea days logged, 11,944 sets observed. Average trip length: 39.5 days.
- Longline (2025): 8,414 sea days logged, 10,442,416 hooks observed. Average trip length: 55.5 days.
Observer Welfare & Safety Interventions
Observer welfare and safety remain critical to the effective operation of the ROP. Data from GEN-3 trip monitoring summaries (2015-2025) highlight recurring historical challenges:
- 173 incidents of operators/crew assaulting, obstructing, intimidating, or interfering with observers (Code RS-A).
- 127 requests that an event not be reported by the observer (Code RS-B).
- 102 failures to provide standard food, accommodation, and medical facilities (Code RS-D).
Under CMM 2017-03, seven serious incidents have been reported to the Secretariat to date, including three in 2017, two in 2020, one in 2023, and one in 2025.
Longline Observer Coverage (2020–2024)
Annual percentage of observed longline days at sea compared to estimated fleet-wide total longline days.
Observer Trip Monitoring Summary (Top Infractions in 2025)
Data from the Observer Trip Monitoring Summary (GEN-3 form) provide advance notification of potential infractions.
| Code | Observed Issue / Infringement | Purse Seine | Longline (Observed) | Longline (Estimated Scaling) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NR-F | Was involved in bunkering activities | 312 | 9 | 180 |
| LC-B | Inaccurately record 'Target Species' discards | 150 | 41 | 820 |
| LC-C | Record species inaccurately | 139 | 2 | 40 |
| LC-D | Inaccurately record retained bycatch species, and discards | 129 | 54 | 1,080 |
| LC-A | Inaccurately record retained 'Target Species' in the vessel logs | 97 | 29 | 580 |
| WC-A | Fail to comply with any Commission Conservation and Management Measures | 49 | 1 | 20 |
| NR-E | Transfer or tranship fish from or to another vessel | 8 | 38 | 760 |
Note on data scaling: While purse-seine coverage approaches full monitoring, longline parameters are historically sampled at approximately 5% coverage. The "Estimated Scaling" column provides a proportional mathematical extrapolation based on this coverage level to help conceptualise broader fleet-wide patterns, assuming a relatively uniform distribution of activity. Furthermore, data transfers of alleged infringements to the Compliance Case File System (CCFS) were halted in 2025 pending Commission decisions, excluding some 2024 and all 2025/2026 data from official CCFS figures.
Observer Trip Monitoring Trends (2018–2025)
Percentage of trips with reported issues by code and fishery type (Purse Seine vs Longline).
Observer rights/social behaviour
WCPFC CMMs
Species of special interest
Safety at sea
National regulations
Log sheet recording position and catch
Pollution
Legend
R = Observer rights / social behaviour (RS)
N = National regulations (NR)
W = WCPFC CMMs (WC)
L = Log sheet recording (LC / LP)
SI = Species of special interest
P = Pollution (PN)
SS = Safety at sea
Species of Special Interest (SSI) Interactions
Observer data continue to support monitoring of Species of Special Interest and non-target species, but careful interpretation is needed.
Sharks & Mobulid Rays
Sharks — Alive vs Dead Trend (2018–2025)
Mobulid Rays — Alive vs Dead Trend (2018–2025)
Seabirds
359 seabird interactions reported in longline fisheries in 2025.
Seabirds — Alive vs Dead Trend (2018–2025)
Cetaceans
236 cetacean interactions recorded in 2025.
Cetaceans — Alive vs Dead Trend (2018–2025)
Sea Turtles
77 turtle interactions recorded across 2025 trips.
Sea Turtles — Alive vs Dead Trend (2018–2025)
Program Administration & Cross-Endorsement
- Cross-Endorsement (CE): Cross-endorsement arrangements remain important for vessels operating across the WCPFC/IATTC boundary. Demand has increased, particularly from the United States purse seine fleet, but availability remains constrained. To date in 2025, there have been 41 requests by U.S. vessels for CE observers, of which 21 vessels crossed into the EPO.
- Audits: The Secretariat continues to audit ROP observer programmes. In 2025 and 2026 (year to date), eight audits were completed for Australia, Fiji, FFA, Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United States. Scheduled audits for 2026 include an interim audit process and full audit for Samoa in June.
- Future Development: Future development of the ROP should be aligned with electronic reporting (ER) and electronic monitoring (EM). As these systems develop, some data fields may be generated from other reliable sources, allowing observer data to focus on supporting information that requires independent at-sea observation.