The partnership between Guyana and the United States to combat illegal fishing has seen a positive start and Washington says it will continue to pursue regional cooperation as seen in the recent Operation Southern Cross.

“Our strategy, I think, is very straightforward, as I outlined, and we hope that countries will join us in that strategy,” Vice Admiral Steven Poulin, Atlantic Area Commander, U.S. Coast Guard on Friday told a Department of State telephonic regional press conference, when asked by  Stabroek News how the U.S. would help this country in combatting the problem, given complaints by local fisherfolk of bullying by Venezuelans in this country’s waters.

“And we got off to a great start with Guyana, and that is to continue to strengthen our partnerships to expand the awareness of the issues globally, to continue to have that persistent exchange of information, and to look to conduct joint operations in the future with all of our partners to get after this very real and serious problem,” he added.

Poulin and acting Director of the Office of Marine Conservation at the U.S. Department of State David Hogan on Friday fielded questions from reporters across the region on the U.S. government’s efforts and regional cooperation, including the recent Operation Southern Cross, to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Western Hemisphere.

Guyanese fisherfolk often complain of illegal fishers, especially from Venezuela, in this country’s waters and that there are insufficient resources to monitor the problem in order to take action.

Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff Godfrey Bess had last month said that most of the illegal fishers here are from Venezuela but that the Coast Guard works around the clock to address the scourge.

“The last time that an illegal fishing vessel was brought inland here was sometime mid last year. Persons are being prosecuted and actions are being taken as we speak,” he had told this newspaper.

With more than US$400 billion lost annually to IUU fishing, Poulin said that the US continues to explore ways at addressing the scourge globally and emphazises the importance of building partnerships and expose the problem while finding ways to clamp down and eliminate it.

“IUU fishing is a global problem.  Let me restate that: IUU fishing is a global problem.  So we look forward to working with our international partners to counter this pervasive threat to safety, security, and prosperity,” Poulin said.

“…So our Coast Guard strategy is founded on several key principles.  The first is to build partnerships.  The second is to expand awareness of the problem globally.  Next is to exchange information.  And lastly, it’s to look at conducting joint operations to ensure maritime governance and enforcement of fisheries laws,” he also told the briefing.

Last month, U.S Southern Command Commander, Admiral Craig Faller, had noted that as part of collaborative efforts with the Coast Guard here under Operation Southern Cross, a joint exercise to deal with illegal fishing had been carried out.

His visit came on the heels of the monitoring of a large numbers of Chinese ships which were fishing in proximity to waters of several South American countries.

‘Vital’

In December the United States Coast Guard (USCG) vessel USCGC Stone embarked from its base in Pascagoula, Mississippi on a multi-month deployment to the South Atlantic with countering illegal  fishing as part of its mission.

According to a USCG statement, the brand new Legend-class national security cutter, one of the U.S. Coast Guard’s flagships, will provide a presence and support national security objectives throughout the Atlantic under the umbrella of Operation Southern Cross.

Poulin on Friday provided an update on the visit. “We had a very successful engagement with Guyana with Coast Guard Cutter Stone.  We were able to not only do information exchanges but also conduct joint operations that are so vital to ensuring an effective presence, an effective enforcement presence at sea.  And I think we can continue to build on our relationship with Guyana,” he said.

“The deployment of Coast Guard Cutter Elmer Stone provided a very firm foundation for our continuing partnership with Guyana, and I think it will pay huge dividends for both our countries into the future,” he added.

Providing data on the scope of the problem, he reminded that IUU fishing undermines coastal state sovereignty.  “It undermines the rule of law and erodes maritime governance.  It jeopardizes food security and economic prosperity for more than 3.3 billion people who rely on fish as a primary source of protein.  It creates an unlevel playing field for those who are engaged in lawful fishing.  I note that more than (US) $400 billion in lost revenue results from IUU fishing.  And it puts fish stocks at risk.  So this is an economic, a maritime governance, and an environmental crisis,” he stressed.

“We in the Coast Guard are putting our strategy to address this problem into action as reflected by the recent deployment of the Coast Guard Cutter Elmer Stone, which we called Operation Southern Cross.  Coast Guard Cutter Elmer Stone is the newest Coast Guard national security cutter in the Coast Guard’s inventory.  This was its shakedown cruise.  That is a cruise that ships use after they are first delivered to ensure that the crew is ready and responsive and can sail the ship.  It is unusual to use a shakedown cruise in an operational setting, but we were so committed to IUU – countering IUU fishing that we thought this was the best and most appropriate use of this newest asset in the Coast Guard’s inventory,” he added.

Making reference to Guyana, among other countries that Cutter Elmer Stone visited, he said that the U.S. was able to have information exchanges, professional exchanges, and he thus believes they were “collectively able to renew our commitment to countering IUU fishing.”

Hogan stressed the importance of nations working together. “Because this is a global problem, as the Vice Admiral said, and because the health of the ocean ecosystems, the sustainability of fish stocks, and economic security of every country is important, it is – it is a problem that is being tackled by not just the United States but by every country that has a stake in those issues.  And so while it is a global problem, it is also a problem that can only be solved through global solutions,” he posited.

He added, “That is why the U.S. Department of State, working with our partners in the Coast Guard, NOAA, and other agencies, has integrated the combating of IUU fishing into our foreign policy platforms and why we are prioritizing this as much as the Coast Guard has through their strategic outlook on IUU fishing to their commitment of their newest and most advanced cutter to address this problem in the region.”

IUU fishing, according to Hogan, is particularly important in the Western Hemisphere because of its impact on the economies of the region.  “Three million men and women depend on the fishing industry for their livelihoods, and it generates more than (US) $20 billion in exports out to the global markets.  In light of this economic impact from IUU fishing, as well as the other conditions that are prevailing in the world today, it is more important than ever that we work together to protect the marine resources on which all of our economies rely,” he contended.

“If we look at the issue from the perspective of all the participants in fisheries, the coastal states of Central and South America are also flag states and their vessels are relying on resources that are taken by IUU fishing, and that competition is an economic security threat.  The markets that rely on seafood products, including processing sectors within the Western Hemisphere, also rely on the sustainability of products in order to be economically viable,” he added.

And explaining the impact across the world, Hogan reminded that IUU fishing also undermines science-based fisheries management.

It is why the US believes that it is unfair to governments of the region who work very hard to manage their fisheries with the best available information and to reward their sectors for following the rules that are set to manage those fisheries, to have those violated by illegal fishers.

And with some U.S. officials believing that IUU fishing has replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat, the two naval officers were asked how serious is this problem in the Southern Atlantic and what can the U.S. do to assist countries to counter it.

“First, IUU fishing is a global problem, and it is a global problem that extends into the Western Hemisphere, and that is one of the reasons why we deployed Stone to work with those countries that I mentioned.  We want to continue to work with countries and build partnerships not only here, but in other parts of the world to address this problem by developing partnerships, exchanging information, expanding awareness of where the hotspots are, and then building global capacity in terms of joint operations, joint doctrine I think helps us as a global team to address this very serious problem,” Poulin said.