The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been patrolling waters in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to help Australia\u2019s partners detect and deter illegal fishing activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The efforts are a part of Operation Solania, the ADF support to regional maritime security, including Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This iteration of Operation Solania saw the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) contribute to the FFA\u2019s first operation of 2022 \u2013 Operation Rai Balang. This operation was a major maritime surveillance patrol in collaboration with partners across Micronesia and Melanesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ADF personnel followed all local COVID-19 measures to ensure the safety of colleagues and the communities in FSM and Palau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RAN vessel HMAS Melville conducted a contactless port visit in Pohnpei before patrolling the Exclusive Economic Zone of FSM with no personnel stepping ashore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ADF\u2019s Joint Task Force 637 coordinates ADF engagement with partners across the Pacific. Joint Task Force 637 Commander, Major General Scott Winter, said the ADF\u2019s support was a major part of its longstanding commitment to maritime security in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIllegal fishing activity and transnational crime are enormous threats to the region\u2019s fishing industry, which is vital for the economies of our Pacific family.\u201d Major General Winter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy tackling these shared maritime security challenges together with the FFA, our Pacific partners, and members of the Pacific Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group (Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and France), we are working together to protect ecosystems and livelihoods across the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The C27-J Spartan crew flew nine missions for the FFA from Palau, detecting and reporting over 110 suspicious vessels and helping locate one vessel of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HMAS Melville patrolled around 195,000 square kilometres of the FSM\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone, and reported seven suspicious vessels to the FFA, significantly contributing to the total amount of all surface unit contact reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HMAS Melville\u2019s Commanding Officer, Commander Paul Savage, said the vessel\u2019s deployment to the FSM demonstrated Australia\u2019s commitment to maintaining regional security alongside its regional partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAustralia and the FSM have a longstanding partnership in maritime security, and Melville\u2019s crew was proud to patrol parts of the nation\u2019s three million square kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone,\u201d Commander Savage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Melville provided important maritime surveillance support to FSM while it awaits the arrival of the first of its two Guardian-class Patrol Boats to be handed over under the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP). FSS Tosiwo Nakayama, named after FSM\u2019s first President, was handed over in Perth on 11 March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The PMSP is Australia\u2019s $2 billion, 30-year commitment to regional maritime security. Under the Program, Australia is progressively rolling out Guardian-class Patrol Boats across the region, replacing Pacific Patrol Boats that were provided between 1987 and 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Australian Fisheries Management Authority officer also joined Melville\u2019s crew, providing extensive knowledge of Pacific fisheries and regional legal frameworks. This enabled the quick identification of illegal fishing activity and provided actionable evidence to the FFA and regional partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been patrolling waters in Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) to help Australia\u2019s partners detect and deter illegal fishing activity. The efforts are a part of Operation Solania, the ADF support to regional maritime security, including Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) operations. This iteration of Operation … Continue reading “ADF HELPS TACKLE ILLEGAL FISHING IN THE PACIFIC THROUGH OPERATION SOLANIA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15692,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15691\/revisions\/15692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}