Coast Guard Cutter Mellon Returns after 80-Day Patrol of Pacific Ocean

SEATTLE —
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC 717), including two Canadian
fishery officers, returned to their homeport of Seattle on Sept. 2 after an
80-day patrol detecting and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

IUU
fishing deprives the international economy of billions of dollars and
undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fish harvesters around the world. It
impacts food security, affecting millions of people, including many vulnerable
coastal communities. Combatting global IUU fishing through international
partnerships is a priority for Canada and the United States.

“IUU
fishing is one of the greatest threats to the ocean’s fish stocks,” said Capt.
Jonathan Musman, Mellon’s commanding officer. “It was an honor to be on the
front lines of enforcement efforts of the distant waters fishing fleets.”

The
fisheries patrol was performed under the auspices of the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission. During
the patrol, Coast Guard and Canadian fishery officers boarded 45 vessels
flagged in Japan, Russia, South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei and Panama, and
they encountered violations ranging from improper gear to intentionally fishing
for sharks without a license. Boarding officers also found evidence of illegal
shark finning. Altogether, boarding teams detected 68 potential violations.

“Canada is
serious about ending illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Jonathan
Wilkinson, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian coast guard. “We are
working with our U.S. partners to achieve this goal. By preventing fish and
seafood products derived from IUU fishing from entering our ports, we will not
only help level the playing field for Canadian harvesters and Canadian
businesses involved in the fish and seafood trade: we are also sending a very
strong message that Canada’s ports have zero tolerance for illegally caught
fish.”

This is
the second joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and Fisheries and
Oceans, Canada’s Conservation and Protection program, this year. Along with the
two fishery officers aboard the Mellon, Canada also provided fishery officers
aboard a Dash-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, operated by PAL Aerospace. The
aircrew performed multiple missions over the North Pacific and Bering Sea using
state-of-the-art radars and maritime surveillance tools. Canada shared the data
from these flights with U.S. Coast Guard counterparts to support the Mellon’s
patrol mission.

The ship
also embarked two different helicopter crews from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station
North Bend, who provided 63 flight hours that directly assisted with
enforcement efforts.

Mellon’s
crew members had several port calls in Yokosuka, Japan, near Tokyo, during the
almost three-month long patrol, which covered nearly 19,000 nautical miles.

The USCG Mellon is a
378-foot high endurance cutter, one of two homeported in Seattle. The ship was
built in 1966 and was designed to perform each of the Coast Guard’s missions,
including search and rescue, national defense, law enforcement, and
environmental protection.