COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD
The Coast Guard ordered the Chinese fishing vessel Qi Dong to return to China after more than eight miles of illegal driftnets were destroyed and secured below deck.
Coast Guard
seizes illegal netsTwo Chinese fishing vessels
are caught with driftnets
during a three-week span
The U.S. Coast Guard has seized driftnets from two Chinese fishing vessels in the last three weeks.
"Driftnets not only kill fish, but impact the ecosystems, so that's why we take it so seriously," said Chief Petty Officer David Mosley, spokesman for the Coast Guard.
Mosley said the transparent nets, sometimes 20 miles long, indiscriminately trap fish, squid, sharks and other animals. The nets are set below the surface and drift overnight, straining the ocean of fish and other marine life.
High seas driftnets larger than 1 1/2 miles are prohibited under a 1992 U.N. General Assembly moratorium, which U.S. officials use for enforcement.
On July 1 the Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter Rush, working with Chinese fisheries law enforcement officials, intercepted the 156-foot Chinese fishing vessel Qi Dong 1,732 miles northwest of Honolulu.
More than eight miles of illegal driftnets were destroyed and secured below deck, along with 393 bags of fishing nets, location transponders, net floats and fishing gear, the Coast Guard said.
The Qi Dong was ordered back to China without incident to meet Chinese law enforcement escorts.
On Sunday the Coast Guard received word of another Chinese fishing vessel believed to be dragging the illegal driftnets.
The Honolulu-based Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis, with a crew of 100 and with Chinese law enforcement officers aboard, intercepted the Zhou Shun Yu 2002.
The 221-foot fishing boat claimed to be legally fishing for squid 2,000 miles northwest of Honolulu. But when officials boarded the boat, they found more than six miles of driftnet.
They also found 20 tons of squid, four tons of tuna and several hundred pounds of shark fins, said Coast Guard officials.
"It's a very big find -- definitely a good thing," said Mosley.
The Coast Guard is escorting the Zhou Shun Yu so it can directly hand over the boat to Chinese officials.
Mosley said it is up to Chinese officials to determine the punishment for the violations.
Rear Adm. David Belz, Coast Guard assistant commandant for operations, said, "These cases mark a significant event in the history of cooperation between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China in joint enforcement of the worldwide ban on driftnet fishing."
