Ottawa, ON - Fishery officers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) successfully completed their first Canadian-led high seas patrol to detect and deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the North-Pacific, a region critical to implementing Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy and upholding its international obligations. The mission, known as Operation North Pacific Guard, is an annual, multi-national effort to coordinate fisheries enforcement to protect global fish stocks. Canada's efforts included ship, satellite and air surveillance, supported by personnel from the Canadian Coast Guard, officers from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
For two months, officers and support personnel patrolled over 12,000 nautical miles on the chartered vessel, the Atlantic Condor, the equivalent of travelling half-way around the world. The goal of the mission was to find illegal high seas driftnets, illegal fishing activity, and inspect fishing vessels under international law to ensure compliance with fisheries regulations.
The boarding team interacted with over 400 crew members from different nations onboard their vessels. During inspections on these international vessels, Canadian officers discovered over 3,000 illegally possessed or stored shark fins, including threatened species such as oceanic whitetip shark, and documented incidents of marine pollution, among other violations.
Canada also conducted air surveillance (based out of Japan) in support of Operation North Pacific Guard. Canadian Fishery Officers and air crew flew 31 patrols, and visually inspected over 400 vessels to confirm compliance with the conservation measures in place throughout the North Pacific. Information from this air patrol was shared with enforcement partners in Japan and the United States.
Canada is now working with the appropriate flag states to support further investigations and sanctions on offending vessels, including providing evidence for 58 violations detected during these patrols.
During the mission, officers also collected environmental data and water samples to improve Canada's understanding of the high seas environment, including the migration range of species of interest, such as Pacific salmon.
This patrol was supported by funding from the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI), which aims to enhance conservation, protection and enforcement efforts in high-risk areas for Canada's Pacific salmon stocks. Operation North Pacific Guard continues to be part of Canada's larger commitment to protect Canadian fish stocks and global marine ecosystems.
