April 1, 2021 — A leaked document originating from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis – part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – has recommended the creation of a multilateral coalition with South American nations led by the U.S. to challenge China’s illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and trade practices.
The document was obtained by news service Axios and revealed in an article published 23 March.
March 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The NOAA Office of Law Enforcement is pleased to announce the appointments of Manny Antonaras, Martina Sagapolu, and Everett Baxter as their newest Assistant Directors. Antonaras was recently selected to lead the Southeast Division based in St. Petersburg, Florida and Sagapolu has been leading the Pacific Islands Division in Honolulu, Hawaii since last spring. Baxter took over the Investigative Operations Division in Silver Spring, Maryland last fall. As Assistant Directors in the regions, Antonaras and Sagapolu serve as OLE’s top regional leadership. At headquarters, Baxter leads OLE’s domestic and international investigative operations.
“NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is essential to the sustainable management of our nation’s federal fisheries and the conservation of our protected marine species and habitats,” said Jim Landon, Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. “Together, Manny, Martina, and Everett bring a wealth of experience to their new roles with more than 65 years of federal law enforcement experience. I have every confidence that they will continue to support NOAA’s mandate to end overfishing and to protect marine resources through fair and effective enforcement of the laws and regulations under OLE’s jurisdiction.”
In his role as OLE’s Assistant Director in the Southeast, Antonaras oversees the largest of the continental divisions. The region has approximately 3,230 miles of coastline covering the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. It is home to three national marine sanctuaries—the Florida Keys, Gray’s Reef, and Flower Garden Banks—and the international border between Mexico and the United States where the division is actively engaged in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud.
Antonaras previously served as the Deputy Special Agent in Charge for OLE’s Southeast Division beginning in 2014. In this role, he oversaw the civil and criminal investigative work performed by special agents and enforcement officers. He also oversaw the division’s investigative support group, enforcement programs, and all patrol activities. During his tenure, Antonaras expanded the undercover operations program. He was instrumental in significantly increasing the uniformed enforcement officer program to enhance OLE’s visible presence and partnerships across the Southeast. He first joined OLE in 2002 as a student volunteer. He was hired as a special agent at the St. Petersburg, Florida field office after receiving his B.A. in Environmental Studies and Sociology from Eckerd College.
March 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA Fisheries issued an interim final rule to continue to provide the authority to waive observer coverage, some training, and other program requirements, on a case-by-case basis. The rule is a continuation of NOAA Fisheries’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authority to waive coverage has resulted in a successful balance between public health and the safety of fishermen, observers, and others, while maintaining fishery operations and the monitoring necessary for sustainable management.
Learn more about the emergency action to continue to waive observer coverage
March 26, 2021 — The global fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated tuna-fishing activities has been slowed by significant gaps in the implementation of proposed counter-measures by five tuna regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs), according to a new report by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation.
The report found the implementation of key elements, such as the requirement for advance notice of port entry, denial of port entry or use, minimum inspections levels, and minimum standards for training of inspectors, has been inadequate.
March 23, 2021 — The U.S. should consider leading a multilateral coalition with South American nations to push back against China’s illegal fishing and trade practices, a U.S. intelligence agency has recommended in a document obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: China’s illegal fishing industry is the largest in the world. Beijing has made distant-water fishing a geopolitical priority, viewing private Chinese fishing fleets as a way to extend state power far beyond its coasts.
What’s happening: Huge fleets of hundreds of Chinese vessels have had boats fish illegally in the territorial waters of South American countries, including off the Galapagos Islands.
March 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing is a top priority for the United States. NOAA Fisheries is proud to be a leader in the nation’s comprehensive approach to this battle. It includes many government agencies working in concert to identify bad actors, suspect vessels, and ports that have no interest in protecting the integrity of the seafood supply. IUU fishing damages nations’ economies, threatens marine resources, and harms U.S. fishing fleets and consumers. Due to the inherent nature of IUU fishing, it is almost impossible to accurately quantify the full global economic impacts resulting from these activities. However, there is little disagreement that it is in the billions, or even tens of billions, of dollars each year.
The scope of IUU fishing can also be broad, occurring at various points throughout the world’s massive seafood supply chain. That means our efforts to combat IUU fishing must be multi-pronged. We work with U.S. and state agencies to promote compliance with import requirements that help prevent IUU fish and fish products from entering U.S. markets. We also work with foreign governments and regional fisheries management organizations to promote international cooperation to achieve effective, responsible marine stewardship and ensure sustainable fisheries management.
In 2018, NOAA Fisheries established the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program. SIMP mandates permitting, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements for importers of certain seafood products. It supports the identification of IUU fish and fish products and misrepresented seafood while complementing existing NOAA traceability programs for imported seafood products. The program requires documentation from the point of harvest to the point of entry into U.S. commerce for 13 seafood species. These species were identified as particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing and/or seafood fraud. SIMP seeks to trace seafood entering our domestic supply chain—deterring and combating IUU fishing and seafood fraud. Our continued implementation of SIMP includes:
March 4, 2021 — The Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.-based Coast Guard cutter Kimball wrapped up a two-week expeditionary patrol in support of counter-illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fisheries enforcement, “furthering the United States’ commitment to regional security and partnerships,” according to Coast Guard officials.
The Kimball is one of the newest national security cutters to be home-ported in Hawaii. The advanced 418-foot ships displace 4,600 long tons. With a top speed in excess of 28 knots and a range of 12,000 nautical miles, it can maintain patrols up to 90 days, carrying a crew of up to 150.
February 26, 2021 — The Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter Kimball wrapped up a two-week expeditionary patrol in support of counter-illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries enforcement, “furthering the United States’ commitment to regional security and partnerships,” according to Coast Guard officials.
The Kimball is one of the newest national security cutters to be homeported in Hawaii. The advanced 418-foot ships displace 4,600 long tons displacement. With a top speed in excess of 28 knots and range of 12,000 nautical miles, they can maintain patrols up to 90 days, carrying a crew of up to 150.
The Kimball deployment was part of Operation Blue Pacific, with goals of maintaining stability and security throughout the Indo-Pacific region. The crew is trained in “targeted and intelligence-driven enforcement actions as well as counter predatory irresponsible maritime behavior,” according to the Coast Guard.
While patrolling 3,600 miles in the Philippine Sea, the Kimball’s law enforcement team conducted its first ever at-sea boarding. The mission included multilateral fisheries enforcement on behalf of international management groups such as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
February 17, 2021 — The eggs, processed into tiny black pearls prized by the gastronomic world for their burst-in-the-mouth, briny flavor profile, were said by state fisheries employees to be needed for research on the sturgeon population in Wisconsin.
But prosecutors say the state biologist who oversees the traditional sturgeon spearing season in Lake Winnebago and its watershed, a rite of winter for fishing enthusiasts in the state, had acquired an expensive and illicit taste for the caviar that is made from the eggs.
The biologist, Ryan P. Koenigs, an employee of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources since 2008, accepted at least $20,000 in jars of caviar in return for supplying to a caviar processor eggs that had been collected under the guise of research, a criminal complaint filed last week in Winnebago County said.
The caviar-processing business is run by a former biologist for the state, according to prosecutors, who said it was one of several caviar processors that obtained sturgeon eggs as part of the bartering scheme. The former employee, who prosecutors said obtained 65 pounds of roe in 2015 that produced $100,000 in caviar, has not been charged.
In Wisconsin, state law requires the eggs to be returned to the person who speared the sturgeon, if requested, or discarded. Prosecutors noted that caviar produced from sturgeon eggs can sell for more than $100 an ounce.
February 4, 2021 — The following was released by the Hawaii Longline Association:
Human trafficking, including forced labor in fisheries and the seafood supply chain, has rightfully garnered attention in recent years. This unconscionable activity is not condoned by the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) and other responsible fishing organizations, and has led to seafood industry-developed standards and social responsibility auditing mechanisms. Recent reports to U.S. Congress present government actions to further prevent and respond to such labor abuses including: 1) Department of Commerce and Department of State Report to Congress on Human Trafficking in the Seafood Supply Chain, Section 3563 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (P.L. 116-92) and 2) Federal Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking in Fishing in International Waters.
“The Hawaii Longline Association commends the work of federal agencies to address this important topic and supports many of the recommendations made in these reports,” said HLA Executive Director Eric Kingma.
Paramount among the recommendations covering domestic fisheries is the development of a temporary visa program for foreign fishing crews. “Providing foreign crews temporary work visas, as recommended in the Task Force report, is an important measure that would benefit foreign workers in our fishery, allowing them to go home and visit family and friends and then return to Hawaii via air travel in an efficient, humane manner,” Kingma said.
Currently, foreign fishermen employed in the fishery are ineligible to obtain a visa and thus are prohibited from flying into Honolulu. Rather, these fishermen must board their employer’s Hawaii-based longline vessel in a foreign port (e.g., Mexico or Canada) or U.S. Territory (e.g., American Samoa) and transit nearly two weeks to Honolulu to begin their legal employment, which is authorized under U.S. law (46 USC 8103(2)(b). However, despite being legally employed to fish on U.S. vessels fishing for highly migratory species in the U.S. EEZ and high seas, without visas they are required to stay within the Honolulu Harbor port area. The only exception to leave the port area is for medical visits or to depart from Honolulu International Airport with permission from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The majority of the 140 active longline vessels operating out of Honolulu Harbor have legally employed foreign crew for over 30 years. Like migrant farm and food processing workers employed across the nation, these skilled fishermen temporarily leave their countries to seek higher paying jobs in the United States, to support their families back home. Other U.S. tuna fleets that fish on the high seas also employ foreign crew, including U.S. distant water purse seine vessels, West Coast-based albacore vessels, and East Coast-based longline vessels. Hawaii longline crew are mainly from Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Pacific Island countries.