Job Well Done!

This was front page news here on Friday. Good job, Munro!

Coast Guard seizes Chinese vessel near Japan for illegal driftnet fishing
Article published on Friday, September 26th, 2008
By JAN HUISMAN
Mirror Writer

The Kodiak-based cutter Munro intercepted a Chinese vessel suspected of illegal high-seas driftnet fishing on Sept. 12. The vessel was caught in international waters 460 miles east of Hokkaido, Japan.
A boarding team from the Munro and a Chinese fisheries officer searched the vessel, the Lu Rong Yu 2879, and found seven miles of driftnet. The vessel had 45 tons of squid and 110 pounds of skipjack tuna on board, according to a Coast Guard press release.
The Munro is escorting the Lu Rong Yu 2879 until custody is transferred to a Chinese patrol vessel. Further investigation and enforcement will take place in China.
The action was carried out under international agreements established by the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum. The U.S., Japan, Canada, Russia, South Korea and China are part of the forum, which was established to enable international cooperation on fisheries law enforcement and maritime safety and security issues.
“That was (the Munro’s) mission before it left homeport: to go enforce the laws and rules of the treaty, as part of the U.S. being involved in that,” said Chief Petty Officer Dana Warr of the Coast Guard 17th District.
“There’s a lot of fisheries out there,” Warr said. “We have surveillance, whether it be by aircraft or ships.”
A driftnet is a fishing net that can catch large amounts of fish across several miles of ocean. Using a driftnet is illegal because accidental bycatch is unavoidable, particularly dolphins and turtles.
Driftnetting was also accused in the mid-1980s of harming North Pacific salmon stock and placing fishermen who do not use these methods at a disadvantage.
The United Nations banned driftnetting in international waters in 1992. The U.S. still allows some forms of driftnet fishing in U.S. waters.

Mirror Writer Jan Huisman can be reached at jhuisman@kodiakdailymirror.com.