| USA. Coast Guard leads law enforcement operation to protect fisheries & New York and New Jersey Port |
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| Friday, 01 September 2006 | |
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Coast Guard: A recent U.S. Coast Guard led multi-agency fisheries operation focused state and federal law enforcement attention on the Atlantic Ocean approach to the Port of New York and New Jersey. Operation Casper brought together Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service, Ct. Dept. of Environmental Protection, N.Y. Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife resources, in addition to surveillance assistance from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. During the two-week operation, which concluded Aug. 25, the Coast Guard boarded 97 vessels, uncovering seven fisheries and 40 safety violations. During this time 367 vessels were spotted and tracked in the approach to the Port of New York and New Jersey. In the operation's most significant fisheries case, a boarding team from the Coast Guard Cutter Bainbridge Island, a 110-foot patrol boat from Sandy Hook, N.J., and the N.Y. Environmental Conservation Police seized more than 500 pounds of summer flounder from a vessel, fishing illegally in New York state waters near Jones Beach, N.Y., Aug. 16. While the law enforcement activity was focused on fisheries, the inter-unit and inter-agency coordination required by the operation sharpened the Coast Guard's ability to monitor vessel activities and protect the approach to the Port of New York and New Jersey. "Operation Casper proved doubly valuable to our Northeastern maritime interests," said Capt. Mark Landry, Coast Guard First District Chief of Response. "The operation served to protect our important fishing resources, while simultaneously allowing us to practice important homeland security capabilities in advance of the 9/11 anniversary." The safety violations mostly involved missing or non-functional equipment. These included life preservers, flares, radio beacons, life-raft equipment and fire-fighting equipment. |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 01 September 2006 ) |
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