This year’s Operation Rai Balang, a surveillance operation involving Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the US, coordinated by the FFA Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre, ended yesterday with success in the region’s activities to deter illegal fishing.
Over the past 10 days, Pacific patrol boats, Coast Guard vessels and aircraft have surveyed approximately 3,000,000 square kilometers of ocean and found no sign of illegal fishing. Approximately 100 people were involved in the surveillance effort from FSM, Palau and the US and 205 fishing vessels were monitored during the operation, 43 were sighted and 6 boarded. One vessel was found to be apparently operating without a valid licence and thus conducting illegal activity in Palau’s EEZ. The vessel has been escorted back to Koror for further investigation.
