Ffa Regional Headquarters, Honiara, Solomon Islands,
Friday 18 November 2011:
Operation Kurukuru 2011, a coordinated maritime surveillance operation in which the countries of the Pacific region
cooperated to detect, deter and eliminate activities such as illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and other
transnational crimes which may have connections with fishing such as smuggling and people trafficking, was hosted by the
Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) during the period 7 to 14 November 2011.
Operation Kurukuru 2011 was the single largest monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) operation ever conducted in
the region and resulted in the sighting of over 400 vessels, the boarding of 80 vessels and the apprehension of eight
vessels, five of which have been escorted to port for further investigation. A further four vessels have been flagged
for potentially conducting IUU fishing activity through analysis of their activities as monitored on vessel monitoring
systems (VMSs). Appropriate follow-up investigations by Pacific Island enforcement agencies are being initiated for
these cases. Several other vessels were issued citations and fines for fisheries infringements. Eight surveillance
aircraft were involved in the operation and they collectively flew a total of over 150 hours covering approximately 350
000 square kilometres of ocean.
The area of operation for Kurukuru 2011 was widespread, covering an area of roughly 30 million square kilometres –
including the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall
Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The MCS
operation involved fisheries and enforcement staff from all of the FFA Pacific Island countries working together with
their Quadrilateral Defence counterparts from Australia, France, New Zealand and the U.S. over the period of the
operation.
Surveillance and enforcement was conducted by individual countries within their respective EEZs and on adjacent high
seas using 12 Pacific class patrol boats (one each from Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa,
Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, and two from Federated States of Micronesia), one New Zealand vessel, one
U.S. Navy and one U.S. Coast Guard vessel, and four French patrol boats. These efforts were supported by aerial
surveillance provided by eight maritime patrol aircraft (one Dash-8 aircraft supplied by Australia, three P-3 Orion
aircraft supplied by Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., two Gardian and one Casa aircraft supplied by France and a
Hercules C-130 aircraft from the U.S. Coast Guard). In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessel embarked an
enforcement officer from the Cook Islands and conducted part of its patrol within the Cook Islands EEZ exercising the
bilateral ship-rider agreement signed between these two countries.
The operation was hosted and coordinated by the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency at the Regional Fisheries
Surveillance Centre (RFSC) located at the FFA Secretariat in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The Secretariat of the Pacific
Community helped facilitate the operation through its EU-funded DevFish (Development of Tuna Fisheries in the Pacific
ACP Countries) project. The RFSC was staffed by watch-keepers from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, U.S.
and Vanuatu with observers from Australia, France, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu and the Pacific Trans-national Crime
Coordination Centre. All countries had access to analyse the FFA web-based VMS regional surveillance map which provided
a real-time snapshot of licensed fishing vessel positions and activities occurring throughout the region along with
planned surveillance flights and patrol plans. Through the use of these tools, watch-keepers from individual countries
were able to network with other MCS specialists and make informed decisions for scheduling, planning and directing the
movements of their patrol boats to locations where aerial surveillance flights, using updated surveillance maps provided
by the RFSC, had identified suspicious activities or vessels.
Significant outcomes of Kurukuru 2011 include:
• First-ever coordinated regional surveillance operation to have had active participation from all 17 Pacific
Island members of the FFA and all four Quadrilateral Defence countries;
• The exercise of two Niue Treaty Subsidiary Agreements – between Federated States of Micronesia and Palau and
between Cook Islands and Samoa, resulting in cooperative surveillance operations occurring within neighbouring country
EEZs;
• A Solomon Islands patrol boat boarding and apprehending three foreign fishing vessels, returning them all to
port;
• A French patrol boat boarding foreign fishing vessels in the high seas under the Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Commission High Seas Boarding and Inspection scheme for investigative purposes;
• A Tuvalu patrol boat boarding, apprehending and fining a foreign fishing vessel;
• A Federated States of Micronesia patrol boat boarding and issuing citations to three foreign fishing vessels for
numerous infractions; and
• Combined aerial and surface surveillance identifying several vessels apparently not complying with their FFA
registration and license conditions and are the subject of further investigation.
The combined success of the MCS efforts by the FFA member countries and their Quadrilateral Defence partners should not
necessarily be measured by the number of fishing vessels apprehended. The reduction in the number of vessels conducting
IUU fishing activities is only one measure of the success of this operation.
Operation Kurukuru is an activity that is coordinated and executed to meet identified strategic objectives outlined
within the Regional MCS Strategy endorsed by Forum leaders in 2010. It also meets the broader objectives of sustainable
fisheries development and management in the Pacific region. This annual operation, held across all FFA member countries
is the culmination of the annual operational cycle and complements other operations held in sub-regions of the FFA
membership earlier in the year.
ENDS