Recommendation 23-12

Recommends that CPCs:

• prohibit their flagged fishing vessels from retaining on board, transhipping, or landing, in whole or in part, any whale shark
• prohibit their flagged fishing vessels from setting a purse seine on a school of tuna associated with a whale shark if the animal is sighted prior to the commencement of the set; if it is incidentally encircled then steps must be taken to ensure its safe release
• follow the safe handling and release guidelines in Annex 1
• collect and report data re interactions with whale sharks