ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard issued a violation to a commercial fishing boat near Kodiak Island.

A boarding team from Cutter Chandeleur discovered eight allegedly illegally-retained halibut aboard vessel Currency about 12 miles west of Cape Barnabas.

The violation reflected a seasonal closure for halibut.

Chandeleur’s boarding team seized the halibut and handed them over to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration representative in Kodiak.

“Maritime law enforcement of Alaska’s fisheries protects both our nation’s living marine resources and the livelihoods of those who depend on them,” said Lt. Tim Cassel, commanding officer of Chandeleur. “We’re out here to protect the lives of fishermen and other mariners, to help ensure commercial fishermen all adhere to the same standards, and to safeguard the longevity of our marine resources.”

Coast Guard living marine resource officers are trained to enforce fishery laws at a highly-specialized school on Kodiak Island before conducting boardings in Alaskan waters.

“Instructors at the North Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center provide training and boarding support for Coast Guard living marine resource boarding officers who enforce fisheries laws in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska,” said Lt. Cmdr. Greg Hersh, commanding officer at NPRFTC. “Educating our students on the intricacies of commercial fishing laws prepares them to protect our oceans’ valuable resources and promotes a level playing field among the fishing fleets in the nation’s most significant fisheries stocks.”

Currency is a 48-foot commercial fishing vessel out of Homer, whose crew was targeting Pacific cod at the time of the boarding.

Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur is a 110-foot Island Class patrol boat out of Valdez. The crew’s missions include ports and waterway security, national defense readiness, search and rescue, marine environmental protection and protection of living marine resources.

-USCG-

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