VANCOUVER - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) deployed fishery officers today to Alaska aboard Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora aircraft in an ongoing, joint multinational effort to control illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. Fishery officers will be monitoring the North Pacific to stop high seas fishing operations to curtail illegal driftnet fishing, which can threaten marine ecology. The long-range patrol aircraft involved in the operation will carry Canadian and American enforcement officials who identify and report suspected IUU fishing vessels for subsequent interdiction by the United States Coast Guard, Russia's Federal Border Service, Japan's Maritime Safety Agency or other appropriate protection services. Since a 1992 United Nations' ban on high seas driftnet fishing, Canada has worked with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) member countries and China to protect species including salmon, squid and tuna, by detecting and interdicting large-scale IUU fishing operations. Countries that are members of NPAFC include: Canada, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. "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, Chief, Enforcement Operations, Pacific Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The annual detection and enforcement operation has helped to reduce IUU fish harvesting in international waters of the North Pacific by about 90 per cent since its 1998 peak. "Stripping the ocean of life poses a clear threat to global security," observed Maj.-Gen. Charlie Bouchard, Commander, 1 Canadian Air Division / Canadian NORAD Region. "Joint environmental enforcement patrol operations such as this one are but one of many ways the Air Force is working to protect Canadian interests at home and overseas." Rear Adm. James C. Olson, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard 17th District in Juneau, Alaska, noted the importance of this international cooperation and enforcement, "Illegal fishing has a lasting and damaging effect on our planet's natural resources, and the North Pacific Ocean is an enormous area that cannot be patrolled by one nation alone. Our partnerships with other Pacific Rim nations, and our commitment to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, make it possible to detect, deter, and prosecute those fishing vessels that seek to illegally harvest global resources. The United States Coast Guard will continue to dedicate assets to this mission, and work closely with our partners to prosecute violators to the fullest extent possible." Canada's Aurora is able to fly for more than ten hours without refuelling, a quality required to patrol the 4.1 million square kilometre expanse of the North Pacific. The multi-role, long-range patrol Aurora is Canada's only strategic airborne land and sea surveillance aircraft. The Aurora fleet consists of 18 aircraft based at 19 Wing, Comox, B.C. and 14 Wing, Greenwood, N.S. -30- Backgrounder:Nations Band Together to Halt Rapacious Fishing Practices For more information: Jeanette Lam Communications Officer Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region (604) 666-2872 Captain Robert Frank Public Affairs Officer 1 Canadian Air Division (514) 893-9221
