May 25, 2023 — On an early January afternoon, a South Korean fishing boat, the Oyang 77, departed from Montevideo, Uruguay, for the plentiful waters off the coast of Argentina. A month later, it would be apprehended by the coast guard for illegal fishing.
As it intruded into Argentina’s territorial waters, the boat left a telltale digital signature, one that could be used to catch outlaw fishermen across the planet.
May 10, 2023 — To effectively combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and push interoperable traceability efforts, the seafood industry needs to continue emphasizing collecting uniform data, according to Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) scientist Sara Bratager.
At Seafood Expo Global – which ran from 25 to 27 April, in Barcelona, Spain – Bratager told SeafoodSource that the first step to pushing seafood traceability is for companies to collect uniform data. A pilot study performed by IFT and the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), seafood traceability standards created by the organizations as a benchmark, helped confirm the hypothesis that uniform data is key to enhancing full-chain traceability.
March 31, 2023 — The USS Mobile, a 418-foot Navy littoral combat ship, began a joint patrol in the Western Pacific Ocean March 20 to combat illegal fishing and maritime crime, according to Navy officials.
Homeported at San Diego, Calif., as part of the Navy’s Third Fleet, the Mobile carries a Coast Guard team to conduct maritime law enforcement, as part of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative.
“OMSI is imperative to ensure that the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Convention (WCPFC) agreement is upheld within the Indo-Pacific region,” said Cmdr. Richard Skinnell, the Mobile’s commanding officer. “This initiative allows us the opportunity to work jointly with other branches of the military as well as our allies and partners.”
March 28, 2023 — The U.S. Coast Guard is taking on an expanded role in the Western Pacific, deploying cutter crews and working with the U.S. Navy to establish an American presence in far-flung island nations. The USCG’s law enforcement and search-and-rescue capabilities dovetail neatly with this mission, and the service wants to double down with four more cutters specifically for the Indo-Pacific.
In its unfunded priorities list for Congress for FY2024 – an indicative set of recommendations for appropriators, above and beyond the budget request – the Coast Guard included a line item for $400 million to fund the acquisition of four more Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), the smallest and most numerous of its seagoing vessels. The FRC has proven itself on long-distance patrols out of Hawaii and Guam, performing tasks above and beyond what might be expected of a 150-foot patrol boat. The class has a nominal range of 2,500 nm, but is capable of 3,500 nm at reduced speed, and it is ideal for fisheries patrols in the wide EEZs of the Pacific islands.
March 28, 2o23 — The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard have kicked off a joint patrol in the Western Pacific on a mission to enforce fisheries laws, combat transnational crimes, and enhance security in the region.
Participating in the patrol is the U.S. Navy’s Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26) with an embarked Coast Guard law enforcement team.
As a Secretary of Defense program, OMSI enhances maritime security and domain awareness by allowing Coast Guard law enforcement personnel to conduct operations from Navy ships. This collaboration ensures that the U.S. military fulfills its security commitments to its allies, partners, and friends.
March 26, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added more than 20 seafood companies to its import alert list so far in 2023.
The import alerts, which range in type from non-compliance with HACCP to a suspicion there is a high chance for botulism, allow the FDA to detain all seafood products shipped from the companies at the border without any physical examination of the product.
March 23, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released a report outlining how it plans to continue keeping the country’s seafood imports safe.
The report, “Activities for the Safety of Imported Seafood,” released in late February 2023, explains how the FDA is building upon the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act and the FDA Strategy for the Safety of Imported Food to accomplish its goals for imported seafood. In its report, the FDA acknowledged that the seafood supply chain one of the most-complicated it deals with. Further complicating its job is the fact that a vast majority of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported.
February 6, 2023 — In 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration strengthened U.S. policy to counter the dangers of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This year, the United States must urgently begin to translate this framework into robust action around the world. To this end, Washington should prioritize establishing anti-IUU partnerships with countries in Latin America and Africa. The existing U.S.-led anti-IUU and Quad partnerships in the Indo-Pacific can serve as important models.
Beyond food and economic security and environmental impacts, new geopolitical and conflict threats associated with IUU fishing have emerged. In the fall, reports came out about an interaction during which a U.S. Coast Guard cutter encountered a Chinese fishing fleet off the coast of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands while patrolling for IUU fishing. When the Coast Guard attempted to board several of the ships to ensure they were following internationally accepted fishing practices, the Chinese vessels sped away with one turning aggressively toward the Coast Guard cutter, requiring the U.S. boat to take evasive action to avoid being rammed. This dangerous interaction was a hazardous deviation from international maritime protocol. Ultimately, the Coast Guard found possible violations on two of the vessels it was able to board and referred the matter to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, which includes China.
While China is not the sole perpetrator of global IUU fishing, it is increasingly becoming a major one. With dwindling fish stocks near its own shores, Chinese distant water fleets are fishing thousands of miles away from the Chinese mainland and using large processor/transport vessels to get their catch back to China. Estimates put the Chinese distant water fishing fleet at around 3,000 vessels, with nearly 500 fishing in the South Pacific, sometimes for months at a time. Of course, not all of what distant water Chinese fishing vessels are doing is illegal. Outwardly, China says it does not support IUU fishing and it has shown the ability to address specific issues when presented with overwhelming evidence of violations. However, it remains to be seen how much China will clamp down and proactively work on IUU fishing issues to ensure long-term viability of global fish stocks.
January 9, 2023 — More than 300 pounds of illegally caught fish were seized on Saturday off the coast of Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Crews said they were alerted to three fishermen illegally fishing near Corpus Christi. They were caught 15 miles off the coast, which is when crews seized 350 pounds of red snapper and fishing gear.
November 10, 2022 — Canadian fishery officers participating in a multinational maritime surveillance mission have uncovered a number of violations on the high seas of the North Pacific, including incidents of shark fishing.
Dubbed Operation North Pacific Guard, the annual international law enforcement operation also included law enforcement officials from the United States, South Korea, and Japan.