Multi-National Patrols To Crack Down On IUU ff

Official forces from Canada, Russia and Japan will join the U.S. Coast Guard this summer to control illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the North Pacific Ocean. Air patrols of the area began on Saturday.

The Canadian Air Force and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as Russia's Federal Border Service and Japan's Maritime Safety Agency will work together with the Coast Guard throughout the summer to stop illegal high seas fishing, including illegal driftnet fishing, which can threaten marine ecology.

Long range patrol aircraft, including an Air Station Kodiak C-130 Hercules fixed winged aircraft and Canadian Air Force CP140 Auroras, will carry American and Canadian enforcement officials who will identify and report suspected IUU fishing vessels for subsequent interdiction by the U.S. Coast Guard's Pacific Area cutters.

“This multinational enforcement operation is a model of international cooperation that has helped to protect fish stocks in the North Pacific and could help to do likewise in other oceans,” said Robert Martinolich, Fisheries and Oceans Canada chief of enforcement operations for the Pacific Region.

Since a 1992 United Nations ban on high seas driftnet fishing took effect, member countries of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and China have worked to protect species including salmon, squid and tuna by detecting and interdicting large-scale IUU fishing operations. The United States, Canada, Japan, Russia and South Korea are all Commission members.

Rear Adm. James Olson, U.S. Coast Guard District 17 Commander based at Juneau, says international cooperation and enforcement is important to protect the resource against illegal fishing.

“The North Pacific Ocean is an enormous area that can not be patrolled by one nation alone,” said Olson. “Our partnership with other Pacific Rim nations and our commitment to the NPAFC make it possible to detect, deter and prosecute those fishing vessels that seek to illegally harvest global resources.”