The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) this week ramped up its surveillance of the South Pacific islands for illegal fishing activities.
Coordinated from the Fishing Surveillance Center in Honoria, Solomon Islands, Operation Tui Moana covered 2 million square kilometers of waters with its Cook Island Pacific patrol vessel, supported by a P3K Orion surveillance aircraft out of New Zealand.
The operation is designed to identify vessels engaged in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. During the surveillance period, 30 boats were monitored and 11 were reported to the Joint Coordination Center as potentially involved in IUU fishing.
Although none of the vessels were boarded, the message is clear to those involved in IUU fishing will be identified and reported.
“During this operation, countries have shared information from the vessel monitoring system, license lists, surveillance flights and other fisheries data to really get a full picture about what is happening in the area of operations,” said Martin Campbell, operations officer and coordinator of Operation Tui Moana. “With this regional surveillance picture, provided continuously by the FFA, countries can prioritize their patrols and send their Pacific patrol boats and surveillance aircraft where illegal activities are suspected or likely.”
In 2009, 10 vessels were identified as engaging IUU fishing in South Pacific waters, and fines of USD 1.4 million (EUR 1.2 million) were imposed on the offenders.
All Supply & Trade stories >