Three vessels caught fishing illegally in NMI’s EEZ

The U.S. Coast Guard recently caught three foreign fishing vessels operating illegally in the Northern Mariana Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

On Aug. 12, a long-range patrol aircraft from the Hawaiian Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point discovered five Chinese Taipei longline vessels actively fishing within the EEZ.

A fourth was transiting and a fifth was loitering, said Coast Guard Lt. Commander Gina Freeman.

The positions of the vessels were relayed to Coast Guard Cutter Kukui, which was sent out in search of the vessels, Freeman said.

Eleven hours later, when the Cutter Kukui arrived at the scene, the ships had already fled the area.

Freeman said one of the vessels “saw the aircraft, got spooked and fled the area north about 30 to 50 nautical miles.” The Cutter Kukui pursued the vessel and was able intercept it after a nearly 50 nautical mile chase.

The fishing vessel has been ordered to return to port and its fishing license will be suspended.

Freeman said the Coast Guard regularly patrols the EEZ looking for violators.

“It’s very periodic and we like to keep it that way,” she said.

Freeman said violators are caught fairly often.

During fiscal year 2006, the Coast Guard documented two cases of illegal fishing in the EEZ.

In November 2005, a Coast Guard aircraft spotted a foreign fishing vessel operating within 15 nautical miles of the EEZ. The ship had no flag indicating its nationality but, using the vessel’s name, the Coast Guard was able trace the ship to Taiwan. The U.S. government requested Taiwanese authorities to investigate the vessel’s fishing activities, but the Coast Guard has not settled the case.

In March 2006, a Coast Guard aircraft with a NOAA Fisheries agent on board discovered a Taiwanese vessel fishing 60 nautical miles outside of the EEZ. The ship was interdicted and escorted to Saipan for violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The ship’s owner agreed to pay a $290,000 fine, install and maintain a vessel monitoring system for five years, and granted permission with Taiwanese concurrence to allow subsequent boardings of the vessel in high seas.

Angelo Villagomez, Saipan coordinator for the Pew Environment Group, said he is not surprised the vessels were found near the EEZ.

“We’ve known from anecdotal evidence that it’s happening,” he said. “I’ve known people that have flown over and seen it.”

Pew is hoping to create a Mariana Trench National Monument in the Commonwealth’s northern waters.

Villagomez said the monument declaration could lead to more Coast Guard and NOAA patrols in the area.