Operation Driftnet Catches 10 Illegal Boatff

A multinational operation on the high seas involving a Canadian
Forces aircraft from CFB Comox has turned up photographic evidence of 10
vessels involved in driftnet fishing, a practice banned by the United
Nations.

Ten vessels rigged for illegal fishing is “a lot” but only half the number
nabbed last year, Capt. Jeff Manney, a reserve force public affairs
spokesman, said Friday. In 2006, 20 vessels were spotted in international
waters with illegal nets. Driftnet fishing was banned in 1993.

”And I just heard this morning that two other boats have been seized and
escorted to a Chinese frigate,” said Manney.

Those two vessels were Chinese, he said, “but I can’t say they’re all
Chinese. The crews are all from mixed nationalities. It's really hard to say
where the boats are from.”

The fishing grounds, located 5,000 kilometers off the West Coast, “certainly
seemed a busy place,” said Manney in a telephone interview.

The vessels could be prosecuted in their home countries for illegal fishing,
or in any country they pass through once they leave international waters,
said Manney.

Driftnets - floating nets up to 40 kilometers in length - target salmon,
albacore tuna and flying squid, but often trap other species, including
seabirds and marine mammals. Nets lost at sea continue to kill fish and
marine mammals for years.

Driftnet fishing is seasonal, based on the right sea-surface temperature in
an appropriate area.

The driftnets have reflectors that are visible to the boat's crew and any
low-flying aircraft.

This year, two U.S. Coast Guard vessels are in the area searching for the
suspicious vessels to board them and take action. In other years, the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans has handed over the photographs to
diplomats of pertinent countries to follow through and press charges.

”It’s a very long process,” said Manney.

Five countries - Canada, the U.S., Russia, Japan and Korea - embarked this
month on Operation Driftnet, a two-week annual mission to scour two million
square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean and photograph and board vessels
suspected of taking part in driftnet fishing.

A long-range Aurora aircraft from the 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron at Comox
swooped down over suspect vessels and photographed their identifying
markings, said Manney. The Aurora crew detected one group of three vessels
all rigged for driftnet fishing.

In apparent response to the Aurora overhead, the crews maneuvered the
vessels in an attempt to hide the ship’s markings.

”One sailor was spotted dumping papers overboard,” said Manney.

Radio calls to the ships also went unanswered, he said, although the
Aurora’s crew intercepted a single, brief transmission from one: “We are
leaving.”

Manney said the enforcement action is cutting driftnet fishing drastically.

”DFO has told us there's been about a 90 per cent decline in this sort of
fishing since the moratorium has been in place,” he said.

”There are five very powerful nations making sure it stops. If we can stop
these pirates from pillaging this part of the ocean, we think we're actually
accomplishing something.”

He noted a boat spotted by an Aurora in June was apparently just seized by
Russian authorities. “That boat had been sailing around since June and then
passed through Russian waters. They spotted it and they seized it. In the
past, we’ve seen some pretty serious punishment from authorities like that.”