Will wonders never cease. The Navy signed on to assist the Coast Guard monitor marine resources in the Central and Western Pacific. To that end, Coast Guard shipriders are deploying on the USS Crommelin today.
While such deployments are routine for counterdrug operations in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and embargo operations in the Persian Gulf, Navy ship involvement in fisheries enforcement is more rare [author's note – I have been in the Coast Guard or Reserve since 1988 and I've never heard of it].
Such cooperation is important as the world's fisheries resources become more scarce. Additionally, the United States has several island "possessions" throughout the Pacific Ocean that, the United States asserts, entitles the United States to Exclusive Economic Zones. These zones are too vast for Coast Guard ships and aircraft to patrol often, so Navy involvement is helpful. And, the Coast Guard shipriders alleviate any posse comitatus concerns.
Per the Coast Guard press release:
"This mission will increase the awareness of the maritime domain and further enhance the Coast Guard's interoperability with the Navy as well as law enforcement assets from our regional partners," said Cmdr. Mark Young, chief of enforcement for the Fourteenth Coast Guard District here.
Foreign vessel incursions into these zones, to harvest fish, occurs. In fact, the owner of a Marshall Islands flagged fishing vessel just agreed to a $500,000 fine for illegal fishing near Howland and Baker islands.
Per the Coast Guard press release:
The owner of the Marshalls 201, a Republic of the Marshall Islands-flagged "purse seine" fishing vessel, has agreed to pay the penalty for violating the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for fishing illegally in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States adjacent to Howland and Baker Islands.
The case began Sept. 9, 2006, when the Coast Guard and NOAA conducted a joint fisheries patrol of the remote EEZ adjacent to the U.S. National Wildlife Refuges at Howland and Baker.
A Coast Guard air crew aboard a C-130 long-range search plane based at Air Station Barbers Point in
Honolulu,
sighted the crew of the
Marshalls
201 with the vessel’s fishing gear in the water approximately two miles inside the EEZ.
The air crew immediately contacted the crew of the Honolulu-based 225-foot Coast Guard buoy tender Walnut, which changed course and intercepted the
Marshalls
201 with the intent to board the fishing vessel at sea.
After a chase at sea for more than four hours, the master of the Marshalls 201 finally 'heaved to' or slowed down enough for the buoy tender to come alongside. Walnut’s crew boarded the
Marshalls
201 and confirmed that it had been fishing illegally in a U.S. EEZ.