COMOX, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 12, 2012) - On behalf of the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Oceans Randy Kamp today marked the return of a Canadian Forces aircraft to its home base in Comox, British Columbia. The aircraft and its Canadian crew returned from Hakodate, Japan, where they were stationed for Canada's Operation High Seas Driftnet aerial surveillance mission in the North Pacific.
Today's event recognized the successful completion of the 2012 Operation High Seas Driftnet mission in the North Pacific, and the close cooperation between Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Department of National Defence and the Government of Japan.
This was the first year that the operation flew from Japan. Having the aircraft and crew staged from Hakodate demonstrates Canada and Japan's growing partnership and shared commitment to combating the use of driftnets on the high seas.
Canada continues to play a leadership role in supporting sustainable global fisheries, including working to eradicate illegal fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean. Operation High Seas Driftnet is part of a collaborative international initiative of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission to deter illegal fishing activity using ongoing aerial and at-sea patrols, as well as sophisticated satellite imaging technology including Canada's Radarsat-2.
"Our government is committed to ensuring that fishing industries from coast to coast to coast are sustainable and prosperous," said Mr. Kamp. "Part of maintaining a sustainable and prosperous fishery means monitoring and enforcing international regulations and deterring illegal fishing activity to ensure a level playing field for Canada's law-abiding fishermen."
"The Canadian Forces play a key role in monitoring our coasts, protecting our waters and patrolling the high seas," said Minister MacKay. "We continue to work closely with our allies and other Government departments and agencies to do our part in the overall fight against illegal fishing off Canada's Pacific Coast."
As a result of this international collaboration and use of sophisticated technology, members of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (including Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Canada) have succeeded in significantly reducing the incidence of illegal fishing activity in the high seas of the North Pacific. Since 2001, these partners have only had to apprehend four vessels for violating the United Nations moratorium, compared to 14 from 1993 to 2000. During the 2012 mission, 318 contacts were observed from the air and investigated, and no illegal, unreported, unregulated high seas driftnet fishing was observed.