1. Maritime Awareness in Oceania: Cooperation is Key
2011 Pacific Operational S&T Symposium
Maritime Awareness in Oceania: Cooperation is Key
“As a declaratory strategy, this document challenges the sea services to evolve an expanded range of integrated capabilities to achieve enduring
national strategic objectives.”
~A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower
Capt Eric Brown March 2011

2. Presentation Tracklines:
Setting the Stage
Three Points on USCG Maritime Awareness
a. Cooperation- Interagency
b. Cooperation- International
c. Cooperation- Joint Arena
The S&T Help We’re Looking for…
a. Remote Area Monitoring, Control, & Surveillance
b. SAR Drift Modeling for Dug-out Canoe, etc.
c. Upgraded Geospatial Information Systems
d. Enhancing Oceania Multi-Cultural Competence

3. Area of Responsibility Law Enforcement and Marine Safety Boundary
14th District
Area of Responsibility
Area encompasses 43% of US EEZ or million 1.5 sq nm, US shares EEZ boundaries with 9 countries.
Oceania operations area has the poorest countries in the world with over
12 million sq nm of ocean and limited patrol and surveillance capabilities.
Major trade routes pass through the area from US, panama canal & cape horn bound for Japan, Hong Kong, & Singapore.
Over 9300 vessel registered to fish for
highly migratory species known vessels active at anytime.
Engagement points:
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) for high seas boardings and inspections.
Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) for combined multilateral operations involving the Pacific Island Countries.
Quadrilateral Defense Cooperation Op w/Australia, New Zealand, and France.
Bilateral shiprider agreements: for support to Pacific Island Countries.
Law Enforcement and Marine Safety Boundary
The Fourteenth District Area of Responsibility covers an area from 1500 nautical miles east of the Main Hawaiian Islands west to the tip of South Africa. Within this area of responsibility lies search and rescue responsibility of over 12.2 million square miles including the prosecution of search and rescue within the maritime boundaries of four independent Pacific island countries.
Fourteenth District’s law enforcement and marine safety responsibility covers two oceans, both sides of the international dateline and eight time zones.
The sole responsibility for preventing foreign fishing vessel encroachment into eight Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) areas of over 1.5 million square miles lies with the Fourteenth District. These EEZs cover 43% of the total U.S. EEZ area and have over 14,000 miles of maritime boundary line threatened by over 2,300 foreign fishing vessels.
The vastness of the D14 Area of Responsibility and the influence this has on everything we do.
The 14th District is one of the smallest CG Districts in terms of personnel, platforms and budget. However, it is the largest in terms of geographic area.
We have a search and rescue responsibility of over 12 million square miles including the responsibility for SAR in in four independent Pacific island countries.
Our law enforcement and marine safety responsibility covers two oceans, both sides of the international dateline and eight time zones. Superimposing an image of the continental US on the area indicates its sheer magnitude, most of which is ocean.
We have the sole responsibility for preventing foreign fishing vessel encroachment into eight EEZ areas of over 1.5 million square miles or nearly half (actually 43%) of the total U.S. EEZ area. These EEZs have over 14,000 miles of maritime boundary line threatened by over 2,300 foreign boats. (There are over 9300 on the WCPFC register of fishing vessels)
Hawaii
SAR Boundary

4. Maritime Security Spectrum
Enhanced
Maritime
Interdiction Ops
Environmental Response
Coastal Sea Control /
Mine Counter
Measures
Counter
Drug
Ops
Low Intensity Conflict / Surface
Warfare
Strikes
&
Raids
Execution of Operations
Theater Security
Stability
Major
Combat
USCG
Full Range of Capabilities Across the Full Spectrum of Threats
Port Anti-
Terrorism
Ops /
Mine
Detection & Prevention
Aids To
Navigation
Search
& Rescue
Other
Law Enforcement
Alien
Migrant Ops
Disaster /
Humanitarian
Assistance
Show of
Force &
Flexible
Deterrent
Options
M a r i t i m e S e c u r i t y M a r i t i m e D e f e n s e
Lower Intensity Conflict
Homeland-Centric
Law
Enforcement
Maritime Security Environment
- Human Smuggling & Slave Trade
- Drug Trafficking & Narco-Terrorism
- Arms & Monetary Smuggling
- Passenger Vessel Protection
- Critical Infrastructure Protection
- Mining of Strategic Ports
- High Value Asset Protection
- Surveillance & Broadcasting
- Border Security Threats
- Sea Lines of Communication Security
- Weapons of Mass Destruction/Effect
- Transnational Threats
- Piracy
Military
Higher Intensity Conflict
Expeditionary-Centric
Homeland Capable
Counter- Terrorism

5. Operation Persistent Presence
Strategy to address maritime transnational threats in Oceania.
Large areas / limited patrol assets
Countries with small economies and limited resources
Many different areas of maritime jurisdiction
This environment allows illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing vessels to evade law enforcement authorities.
If you fish illegally…what else are you willing to do???
Transnational threats are proliferated by fishing vessels.
The current Coast Guard Strategy to combat the unique challenges presented by Oceania is Operation Persistent Presence.
Large areas
Small countries w/limited economic power
Many jurisdictions and overlapping responsibilities
This creates loop holes that illegal fishermen use to escape capture.
What else are illegal fishermen willing to do?
Transnational crimes are proliferated by fishing vessels in Oceania.

6. 2006 2009 2011 Dramatic growth in jurisdictional complexity
D14 Law Enforcement Jurisdiction
Western Central Pacific Ocean TUNA Capture
PMNM
World GDP (228 countries):
#200 Vanuatu
#210 Kiribati
#212 Nauru
#214 Micronesia (FSM)
#216 Cook Islands
#217 Palau
#218 Marshall Islands (RMI)
#222 Wallis and Fortuna
#221 Nauru
#226 Tuvalu
#227 Niue
#228 Tokelau
World tuna capture:
4.4 million metric tons (mmt).
Western and Central Pacific: 2.4 mmt
Estimated Value ex-vessel:
$3 - 4 Billion
(Purse Seine capture 2.3 Billion)
Combined value of economies (12) lowest economies =
$2.9 Billion
Catch has increased by an average of 120,000 tons each year since 1974.
Special Requirements
High Seas Boarding and Inspection
MTMNM
FSM
PRIMNM
Domestic
Domestic
RMI
PALAU
Kiribati
Bilateral Agreements
Over the past three years the jurisdictional complexity for fisheries enforcement has grown significantly with no increase in resource allocation or budget.
2006 – U.S. Coast Guard’s primary concern was boarding vessels inside the U.S. EEZ and keeping foreign vessels out.
2006 – Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was created, 1200nm in length and covering 140,000 sq. nm. In 2009 three additional Marine National Monuments were created, the Marianas Trench, Pacific Remote Island Areas, and Rose Atoll, encompassing 195,000 sq. nm. These monuments have their own unique council structure for management, their specific requirements for protection of critical habitats, and specific rules for permitting for the extraction of any resources.
2008 – U.S. Coast Guard signed 5 bilateral shiprider agreements. These had been previously piloted in 2007 with significant success. The agreements allow U.S. Coast Guard cutters to carry inspectors from the signatory country into their EEZ and Territorial seas for fisheries and customs enforcement. Inspectors from the Coastal State board foreign vessels permitted to fish in their EEZ with the support of USCG boarding teams. In 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard signed a shiprider agreement with Tonga for a total of six agreements. These agreements are exercised on an annual basis.
2008 – Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is a regional fisheries management organizations (RFMO) in accordance with the UN Fish Stocks Agreement that manages high migratory species (HMS i.e. Tunas) west of 150W longitude and north of the southern ocean boundary. The WCPFC consists of 34 members, co-operating non-members, territories, and fishing entities. Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) is the high seas boarding and inspection scheme (HSB&I). Under this agreement there is no need to get permission from any member to board a fishing vessel claiming nationality of another WCPFC party, harvesting HMS, on the High Seas. The U.S. Coast Guard has conducted 6 boardings in 2008, and 2 in In Aug 2009, the US gave notice to the WCPFC to recognize the authority of Chinese Taipei <Taiwan> to conduct HSB&I. As of 09OCT09 USCG Cutter may conduct HSB&I on vessel flagged in Chinese Taipei.
Cook Is
U.S. EEZ
RAMNM
Monument
1000 nm
Tonga
Shiprider
WCPFC

7. Fragile Economies Somalia
“Ever since a civil war brought down Somalia's last functional government in 1991, the country's 3,330 km (2,000 miles) of coastline — the longest in continental Africa — has been pillaged by foreign vessels. A United Nations report in 2006 said that, in the absence of the country's at one time serviceable coastguard, Somali waters have become the site of an international "free for all," with fishing fleets from around the world illegally plundering Somali stocks and freezing out the country's own rudimentarily-equipped fishermen. According to another U.N. report, an estimated $300 million worth of seafood is stolen from the country's coastline each year”
~ Time Magazine
Vulnerabilities
Very little arable land
No mining or forest resources (land based)
Primary resources from ocean – tuna
- limited surveillance capability
Check book diplomacy
External influence / spheres of influence
- World tuna stocks are crashing, last viable tuna stock. EU & South America interested in fishing in WCPO.
Ticking time bomb
12 Somolias?

8. Longline Fishing Effort
Jarvis Atoll
Howland / Baker Islands
Palmyra / Kingman
5 N
5 S
“TUNA BELTS”
This graphic shows vessel monitoring system (VMS) poling from the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) VMS for the year This is the longline activity, which comprises approximately 17% of the catch in the WCPFC convention area.
The longline vessels employ selective fishing methods and target mainly big eye, yellow fin, and albacore tunas. These species live in deeper waters and follow the strong equatorial currents. This creates to areas of fishing the 5N and 5S latitudes. Because the fish ignore political or man-made boundaries, the US pacific remote island areas are under constant threat for illegal fishing activities.
U.S. pacific remote island areas (PRIA) exclusive economic zones (EEZ)
straddle the highly productive “tuna belts”. These areas are at significant
risk of incursion as demand for tuna rises.

9. Interagency Cooperation
MDA also equals: Missile Defense Agency
Bill Michel
MDA Analyst
(ADM Brown)
Susan Heinz
Operations
Manager
Van Huynh
MDA Aviation Liaison
Rich Williams
MDA Analyst
Cynthia Martinez
MDA Analyst
Paul Kamanawai
MDA Aviation Liaison

10. International Cooperation: WHEC Patrol in Oceania.
Operation AHI GUARDIAN
2 Domestics Boardings
Republic of Marshall Islands
5 Shiprider Boarding‘s (3 Vios for Shark Finning)
1 US Flag State Boarding (No Vios)
Kiribati
7 Shiprider Boardings (No Vios)
1 US Flag State Boarding (No Vios)
Participated in Operation KURU KURU
Rescued 4 Personnel in SAR Case 1
Jarvis/Kingman/Palmyra
2 WCPFC High Seas Boardings
TOPIC: OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF DUTY OF CGC RUH
A. OCEAN GUARDIAN, USCG FISHERIES ENFORCEMENT STRATEGIC PLAN.
B. CCGD Z AUG 10 OPERATION PACIFIC PELAGICS OPORDER ( )
1. BRAVO ZULU TO THE OFFICERS AND CREW OF CGC RUSH. I SINCERELY APPRECIATE YOUR VERY AGRRESSIVE 71 DAY OCEANIA PATROL WHILE WORKING UNDER D14 TACON.
2. DURING YOUR DEPLOYMENT, YOU CONDUCTED 38 BOARDINGS, PATROLLED SIX DIFFERENT US EEZ’S, THOROUGHLY EXERCISED THREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPRIDER AGREEMENTS, ASSISTED PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF EIGHT DIFFERENT FOREIGN EEZ AREAS, AND ENFORCED WESTERN CENTRAL PACIFIC FISHERIES COMMISSION (WCPFC) REGULATIONS IN SIX DIFFERENT REMOTE HIGH SEAS POCKETS.
3. ALL OBJECTIVES AND GOALS WERE MET AND EXCEEDED THIS PATROL. RUSH ALSO COLLECTED INVALUABLE DATA, PRODUCING 32 FIELD INTELLIGENCE REPORTS WHICH SIGNICANTLY IMPROVED INFO ON FISHING VESSEL (F/V) ACTIVITIES IN OCEANIA. YOU PROVIDED CRITICAL LOGISTICS TO FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE PERSONNEL ON JOHNSTON ATOLL VIA EMBARKED HH-65.
4. YOU EFFECTIVELY ENFORCED ALL FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS, CONDUCTING 13 DOMESTIC BOARDINGS IN REMOTE EEZS. RUSH IDENTIFIED SEVERAL U.S. F/VS OPERATING WITH NON-U.S. MASTERS, CITED NUMEROUS COMMERCIAL F/V SAFETY VIOLATIONS INCLUDING A VOYAGE TERMINATION FOR UNSAFE CONDITION, AND NOTED SEVERAL VESSELS WITHOUT TRAINING ON HANDLING PROTECTED SPECIES.
5. RUSH GREATLY ADVANCED ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF LIVING MARINE RESOURCES IN THE REGION. YOU PARTICIPATED IN OPERATION KURU KURU, A FORUM FISHERIES AGENCY (FFA) LED MULTINATIONAL FISHERIES ENFORCEMENT OPERATION WITH EIGHT SHIPS AND FOUR AIRCRAFT FROM PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS, FRANCE, NEW ZEALAND, AND AUSTRALIA. THE OPERATION SUCCESSFULLY SIGHTED 195 FISHING VESSELS, INVESTIGATED 35 F/VS, AND SEIZED TWO FOR FISHERIES VIOLATIONS. YOU CONDUCTED 23 SHIPRIDER BOARDINGS RESULTING IN THREE SHARK FINNING VIOLATIONS AND TWO LICENSING VIOLATIONS. ADDITIONALLY, YOU EMBARKED AN AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (AFMA) RIDER AND CONDUCTED TWO HIGH SEAS BOARDING AND INSPECTIONS UNDER WCPFC.
6. YOUR RESPONSE DURING THE SUCCESSFUL SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORT OF AN OVERDUE 13 FOOT SKIFF, SAVING A FAMILY OF FOUR FROM KIRIBATI WAS SUPERB. WHEN THE NEW ZEALAND P-3 AIRCRAFT LOCATED THE SKIFF, YOU IMMEDIATELY ENACTED A PROMPT/EFFECTIVE RECOVERY PLAN. USING YOUR OVER THE HORIZON BOAT, YOU SAFELY TRANSFERRED FOUR SURVIVORS AND THEIR BOAT TO THE CUTTER AND ULTIMATELY SAFELY TO THEIR HOME ISLAND.
7. YOUR ACTIONS THIS PATROL CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED THE FULL CAPABILITY A HIGH ENDURANCE CUTTER CAN OFFER TO CONDUCT MARITIME SECURITY IN OCEANIA. YOUR COOPERATIVE EFFORTS TO PROTECT FISH STOCKS ENHANCED REGIONAL ENFORCEMENT EFFECTIVENESS AS WELL AS MARITIME GOVERNANCE. WELL DONE. WELCOME HOME.
8. RADM C.W. RAY, COMMANDER, FOURTEENTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT, SENDS. BT
American Samoa
7 US Flag State Boarding’s
- CFVSA violations on 3 of the 7
- Paper Captain on 4 of the 7
Cook Islands
11 Shiprider Boardings (No Vios)
2 US Flag State Boarding (Non-US Master on each)
Rendezvous with FS PRAIRIAL (French)

11. International Cooperation: Multilateral Operations
NOV 2009
CG C-130 supporting patrol boats
500 vessel identified
30 boardings
United States:
Patrol Boat
Buoy Tender
Rai Balang
Big Eye
Kuru Kuru
Tui Moana
United States:
- C-130 aircraft
- Patrol Boat
Buoy Tender
High Endurance Cutter
- USN P-3
MAY 2009
CG C-130 & USN P-3
12 boardings
Palau - $20 K fines
France:
- Guardian
- Patrol Boat
- Frigate
Forum Fishery
Agency HQ
Australia:
- P-3 aircraft
- Frigate
New Zealand:
- P-3 aircraft
Australia:
- 22 Pacific Patrol Boats
AUG 2009
US/ AUS/ FR/ NZ aircraft
21 boardings
Kiribati - $1 MIL fines shark fins
Tuvalu - $10K fine illegal catch
Solomon Is – 2 seizures
U.S. - $500K fine and seizure
The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. government is limited in resources to patrol this vast area. We rely heavily on our international partners for fisheries enforcement compliance.
This chart shows the location of the Pacific Island Patrol Boats. The government of Australia purchased and donated 22 Patrol Boats for pacific island countries. It provides for the maintenance and training for these assets. The U.S. Coast Guard will contact the Australian Maritime Surveillance Assistants (MSA) in each country on a frequent basis to arrange enforcement patrols and share sighting data.
Multilateral Operations occur four times a year, the major players are Australia, France, New Zealand, and US. Procedures have been developed through the Quadrilateral Defense Cooperation Operational Working Group (QDCOWG) aka “Quad talks” and information is shared in the Asia Pacific Area Network (APAN) hosted by PACOM and managed by D14(dre).
DEC 2009
M/V Esperanza (Greenpeace)
Reported 2 illegal fishing vsls
Cook Islands – received $400K
Settlement.

12. Interoperability in the Pacific
Joint Cooperation:
Interoperability in the Pacific
Operation Persistent Presence: JUNE 2009
USS CROMMELIN (First Such Deployment)
-With three embarked USCG LNO’s
USCG C-130
FSS INDEPENDENCE (Federated States of Micronesia
Operations Ongoing Since

13. Joint Cooperation: US Pacific Fleet- USS Crommelin FFG-31
Shen Lian Cheng 701
Spotted IUU
Fishing vessel
Reported to
Marshall Islands
Portcall in Phonpei Federated States of Micronesia.

14. Thank you. Maritime Awareness in Oceania:
Cooperation is Key, as is S&T
The S&T Help We’re Looking for…
a. Remote Area Monitoring, Control, Surveillance
b. SAR Drift Modeling
c. Upgraded GIS
d. Enhancing Cultural Competence
Thank you.
CAPT Eric P. Brown
Chief of Response
Coast Guard District Fourteen
(808)