A maritime law enforcement boarding team completed final preparations on the fantail of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Washington, lowering a ridged inflatable boat into the water. Petty Officer 1st Class Ralph Pastore, Washington’s boarding officer, finalized the details with the coxswain, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Reo and Seaman Duke Joseph of the Palauan Division of Maritime Law Enforcement.
Their target: A long-line fishing vessel making way about a half-mile off the cutter’s port bow.
Washington’s crew was patrolling Palau’s exclusive economic zone as part of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency’s Operation Kurukuru, a coordinated maritime surveillance operation. The goal is to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
This is my second time coming down here and working with a Palauan shiprider, said Pastore. Last time, I was able to get a good idea of how they work both on land and out here on the ocean, so it makes the job easier.
The operation was conducted from Oct. 7-18 across 8.2 million square miles. Assets and crews were involved, including the Washington, an HC-130 Hercules airplane and crew from Hawaii temporarily based out of Tonga, and an intelligence specialist working out of the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Center at the FFA headquarters in Honiara, Solomon Islands, where the joint operation was coordinated.
2019 Pacific Daily News, a division of Gannett Company, Inc.