Canada has shown strength in the North Pacific, catching bad actors who continue to kill sharks for their fins and others who take species out of season and essential to the survival of British Columbia salmon.

For the first time, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and fisheries officers have led a mission to crack down on fishing fleets beyond the 200 nautical mile limit that do not respect international rules.

Operation North Pacific Guard, a two-month mission aboard the Victoria-based Sir Wilfred Laurier, covered more than 20,000 kilometers and involved Canadian armed fisheries authorities and other partners, including their American counterparts , to board 15 international ships.

Last year, Canadian fisheries officers participated in an international mission aboard a vessel contracted by international partners and have been involved in aerial reconnaissance for decades in the region.

But it was the first time a Canadian Coast Guard ship had led the effort.

The crew documented several instances of marine pollution, patrolled for prohibited driftnets, and cited several fishing boats – commonly referred to as “dark vessels” – for intentionally shutting down their monitoring systems.

The Sir Wilfred Laurier was supported by Canadian aerial surveillance based in Hokkaido, Japan, in partnership with the Japanese and South Korean governments and by satellite surveillance which helped locate fishing vessels.

The Sir Wilfred Laurier returned to home port on Sunday evening. The crew said they would have boarded and sanctioned more ships if not for their late departure due to the ship’s lengthy engine overhaul and stormy fall weather conditions that made difficult boarding.

Dustin De Gagné, senior officer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ International Fishing Enforcement Unit, said officers have encountered several cases of illegal shark finning, misreporting of catches, problems marking of ships and boats not using the required transponders in order to be able to transmit their position to authorities.

The crew also found a vessel with a significant illegal catch of Pacific saury, a small herring-like fish and a keystone species of the North Pacific.

De Gagné said one ship was captured with 20 tonnes of saury out of season, worth C$3 million.

“It is an important species for the North Pacific ecosystem and a forage species for Pacific salmon,” he said. “It is therefore important that we look not only for potential interception of Pacific salmon in bycatch, but also for species that are vital to their offshore life cycle, feeding habits and diet.”

The boardings gave Canadian officers their first opportunity to enforce the newly adopted ban on the retention of Pacific salmon, which has been in effect for North Pacific fishing fleets since July.

Fisheries officials did not specify the country of origin of the illegally caught or infringing vessels, but said those arrested and boarded were part of “Asian distant water fleets”, flying the flag of China, from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Russia.

Canadian fisheries officers are not authorized to seize illegal catches, but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said it is working with the vessels’ flag states to support further investigations and sanctions against offending vessels.

“We provide a full report to the flag state and they are held accountable to the international community to ensure that they fully investigate and then sanction these illegal actors accordingly,” De Gagné said.

Asked if he was confident countries would take action against illegal fishermen, De Gagné said offending countries would be held accountable to a broader community of members of international fishing organizations.

“They are obliged to report their findings and if those results are not deemed sufficient, an inspecting country like Canada can propose banning that vessel from fishing in the future,” he said. “It’s called an IUU (Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported) fishing list and it’s something these countries don’t want, so they usually work with inspector members.”

Air crews patrolled 50,000 nautical miles and visually inspected 407 vessels during 34 patrols. During these patrols, fisheries officers “reported incidents of shark finning, targeted capture of dolphins, pollution incidents and vessel marking violations,” DFO said.

In addition to monitoring and enforcement, fishery officers collected environmental data and water samples, including on the migration range of species of interest, such as Pacific salmon, and on microplastic levels in water.

This year’s mission also marked two firsts for the Canadian Coast Guard: the first port of call by a Coast Guard vessel in Japan and the first use of a more environmentally friendly blend of renewable diesel, biodiesel and of conventional diesel, marking an important step toward a greener fleet and a federal mandate to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The Sir Wilfred Laurier underwent a renovation this year to replace its three engines and controls. The new fuel blend reduced emissions by 80% and fuel and lubricating oil consumption by half.

Captain Richard Marriott, who served aboard the Sir Wilfred Laurier for two decades, said the lightweight icebreaker is “the pocket knife at every level when it comes to multi-tasking operations.”

He said the addition of fishing operations in the North Pacific was a perfect fit for the ships, which were involved in everything from searching for the wrecks of the Franklin Expedition to providing vital transportation and supplies in the North and the scientific expeditions.

“This is a very well-equipped ship for any type of mission and we showed that again this time,” Marriott said.

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