RFMOs are falling short of high-seas mandates, Duke University analysis finds

Analysis finds high seas fisheries management failing to meet mandates, with 56 percent of fish stocks overexploited or in decline

Regulators charged with overseeing fisheries on the high seas are failing to meet their conservation mandates, a recent analysis has found. The findings, led by researchers at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, arrive just as the United Nations moves to implement a new oceans treaty that will rely on these Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (or RFMOs) to help carry out its protections.

The high seas – which make up nearly 65 percent of the ocean and shelter everything from whales and sharks to key commercial fish – are experiencing biodiversity losses, driven primarily by industrial fishing, the researchers said. Oversight of those fishing activities rests with RFMOs.

“These RFMOs have the dual mandate to ensure both the long-term conservation and sustainable use of high-seas fish populations, which can be migratory animals crossing ocean basins, animals moving between international and national waters or deep-sea fish,” said Gabrielle Carmine, lead author who works as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University.

Although RFMOs vary in how they are governed, most rely on scientific committees to recommend sustainable catch limits. A 2010 independent review concluded that these bodies were “failing the high seas,” a finding the new analysis revisits and expands. The team evaluated 16 RFMOs across 10 categories, including catch targets, bycatch management and stakeholder participation, using publicly available data to score each organization against 10 criteria for a maximum of 100 points.

The results show consistent underperformance: scores ranged from 29.5 to 61.5, with an average of 46 – less than half the total possible points. The analysis also found that, on average, 56 percent of fish stocks managed by RFMOs have been overexploited or have declined to levels too low to recover naturally.

“RFMO performance raises concern about these institutions keeping pace with industrial overexploitation of high-seas marine life and a rapidly changing ocean,” Carmine said.

Paper calls for permanent ban on high seas exploitation, including commercial fishing

The analysis identifies several areas where RFMO policies could be strengthened. One recommendation is to prohibit transshipment – the practice of transferring catch to another vessel at sea – which researchers say could help curb overexploitation. Critics argue that transshipment can allow illegally caught fish to enter global supply chains, underscoring the need for stricter oversight.

“This review is intended to not just provide a scorecard, but to prioritize areas for constructive improvements in the management of high-seas fisheries and identify gaps in management that need to be filled in the future,” said Patrick Halpin, co-author and professor at Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.

The analysis comes as many RFMOs convene for their annual meetings, where member nations set binding management measures for the year ahead. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – which oversees more than half of the global tuna catch – is meeting this week, with climate impacts on fisheries among the issues on its agenda. These discussions coincide with the approaching enforcement of a new U.N. high-seas treaty, set to take effect on Jan. 17, 2026, which will place added emphasis on effective governance in international waters.

“This new U.N. treaty requires legal collaboration with RFMOs,” Carmine said. “Perhaps that future collaboration should aim to fill the gaps we found and prioritize long-term conservation.”

Read the full analysis.

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