September 28, 2020 — After a long absence, fish and fishery patrols are back as a U.S. Coast Guard priority. In a little-noticed event earlier this month, the U.S. Coast Guard announced a new focus on “Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing,” sketching out a broad plan to track and, in time, start rolling back the systemic—and often State-based—depredation of seas worldwide.
While the announcement was crafted to reflect a mere status-oriented “Outlook” on the scourge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the rollout at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington had all the trappings of a fully committed, “all-of-government” strategy. Flanked by Admiral Craig S. Faller, head of Southern Command, Tim Gallaudet, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Dr. Benjamin Purser, a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the State Department, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl L. Schultz, put rogue fishing fleets on notice.
The “Outlook” itself heralds another foresighted Coast Guard effort to focus attention on complex but easily-ignored maritime challenges. To maritime observers, the pattern, by now, should be familiar, as the U.S. Coast Guard is using the same successful template it used to raise awareness of emerging national security issues in the Arctic and the Western Hemisphere. In essence, the Coast Guard, through its latest “Outlook,” is affirming that large-scale economic encroachment at sea and other resource-extraction activities inconsistent with international norms is a destabilizing influence that needs to be controlled. It is signaling that Coast Guard resources will begin putting their “arms around” the problem. But rather than try to do it all, America’s racing-stripe Navy has set out a compelling case for any interested party—both inside and outside of the U.S. government— to join the fight against illegal fishing.