The US Coast Guard, Canadian forces, and international partners concluded a joint patrol countering illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as part of Operation North Pacific Guard (NPG) 2026.
Operation NPG is a multinational counter-IUU fishing operation that represents the interoperability between the US and international partners to detect, deter, and combat IUU fishing.
The joint mission included the US Coast Guard national security cutter Midgett, US Coast Guard Pacific Area Maritime Information Fusion Center, US Coast Guard Pacific Area Tactical Law Enforcement Team, US Coast Guard Arctic District, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement.
The operation was conducted in coordination with international partners; including Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Fisheries Agency of Japan, the Korea Coast Guard, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of South Korea.
During the 25-day patrol in the North Pacific, the crew of Midgett conducted eight high-seas boardings and inspections, detecting three potential violations of conservation and management measures established by regional fisheries management organisations. Additionally, joint crews identified several potential violations, including illegal shark fin harvesting, through coordinated high-seas patrols, aerial surveillance, and electronic monitoring.
Potential violations were submitted to the fishing vessel’s flag state for adjudication.
NPG began in the early 1990s to enforce the United Nations General Assembly's moratorium on high-seas drift nets, and the intel-driven operation has now evolved to counter all IUU fishing threats in the North Pacific Ocean.
