The United States is Poised to Announce Plans to Battle Illegal Fishing in the Pacific

On May 9, U.S. Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell announced the United States’ intention to release new plans to combat illegal fishing in the Pacific as part of the increased U.S. engagement with the region to counter China’s growing influence. “One of the biggest challenges in the Pacific is, in fact, illegal fishing,” said Campbell in a forum at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “…We believe that in the next couple of weeks, we are going to, through various institutions, announce a major set of capabilities designed to improve maritime-domain awareness.” In addition, Campbell said that the U.S. would look at capabilities to continue tracking shipping when vessels fishing illegally turn off electronic identifiers. Campbell did not give a set time when the plans would be announced, and the announcement came two weeks before President Joe Biden’s May 20-24 trip set for South Korea and Japan.