Is Ice-chilling method adequate to preserve quality of catch in High Seas Pocket 1

Abstract

Fisheries data in 2017 show that 6.33% of the country's total tuna production was caught from High Seas Pocket 1 (HSP-1) by large commercial fishing vessels with ice-chilled carrier boats. HSP-1 is the area of high seas bounded by the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the Federated States of Micronesia to the north and east, the Republic of Palau to the west, and Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the south. Considering the distance and travel duration from HSP-1 to the fishing port, the question now is: are ice-chilled storage facilities in carrier boats sufficient to preserve the quality of catch.