The U.S. Coast Guard’s Hono lulu-based CGC Harriet Lane and its crew recently concluded a nine-day operation in the Cook Islands alongside local law enforcement.
The Lane’s crew worked alongside the Cook Islands’ Ministry of Marine Resources to conduct fishery enforcement patrols in an operation that wrapped up Friday, Coast Guard officials said.
Two Cook Island fishery officers rode aboard the Lane as “ship riders,” a practice that allows U.S. and other nations’ military or law enforcement vessels and crews to operate under their legal authority and enforce local laws. Working with Lane’s crew, the officers conducted six boardings of fishing vessels operating within the Cook Island waters, registering one suspected violation.
“As a small island and developing state like the Cook Islands, our biggest advantage and our strength is through cooperation with our partners in the Pacific when conducting fisheries boardings,” Sai Sarau, a Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources fisheries officer, said in a news release.
“Together, we will weave a stronger Pacific community ready to face future challenges.”
The Lane, a 270-foot Medium Class Endurance Cutter -- known to Coasties simply as a “270 ” -- arrived in Hawaii in late 2023 to serve as the U.S. Coast Guard’s first “Indo-Pacific Support Cutter ” exclusively devoted to operations in Oceania. It began operations in the region last year, where its crew of around 100 has focused on helping Pacific Island nations with fishery enforcement operations at a time when tuna stocks are under historic strain from illegal and unreported fishing.
“Working with the Cook Islands’ Ministry of Marine Resources has been an incredible opportunity,” said Cmdr. Nicole Tesoniero, Lane’s commanding officer. “Seeing firsthand our combined dedication to protecting marine resources and upholding laws and regulations reinforces the importance of these partnerships. We’re proud to support their efforts in ensuring a sustainable future for their waters and the wider Pacific.”
The Cook Islands are made up of 15 small islands and atolls roughly halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, scattered across a stretch of ocean teaming with fish and believed to have vast undersea mineral wealth. In 2023, Hawaiian Airlines began a weekly direct flight route between Honolulu and Rarotonga, the largest and most populated of the islands.
Lane’s visit comes as China has been working to grow its influence and investment in the Cook Islands.
Since 1965, the Cook Islands has been a country in “free association” with New Zealand. As part of the agreement, its citizens have New Zealand passports and have access to New Zealand’s health care and education system and the ability to work there. Under the agreement, the Cook Islands has its own independent foreign policy, but the two countries are required to consult each other on security, defense and foreign policy issues.
In February, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown signed a series of deals with China that could dramatically bolster cooperation with Beijing. The deals covered areas of interest including infrastructure, shipbuilding, tourism, agriculture, technology, education and deep sea mineral exploration.
New Zealand officials said they were “blindsided” and that Brown had not consulted with them, and several opposition lawmakers in the Cook Islands accused him of a lack of transparency on negotiations with Beijing and hiding it from the public. The agreements were signed not long after planes flying between New Zealand and Australia were diverted after Chinese warships sailing down Australia’s eastern coast conducted live fire exercises in waters between the two countries.
China has been competing with the U.S. and its allies across the Pacific, looking to bring island nations into its Belt and Road Initiative, a series of infrastructure projects funded by Beijing to promote trade with China. Some analysts have charged that many of these projects have “dual use” applications that not only promote commerce, but potentially set up areas for Chinese military and intelligence to operate in the future.
American officials have particularly criticized China’s large state-subsidized fishing fleet, which they say has been used to conduct surveillance and intimidate rivals while engaging in rampant overfishing. Fishing is central to the economies of most Pacific Island nations, but only a few have navies or coast guards of their own to monitor or protect their waters from illegal fishing. Most rely on partnerships with countries like the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
In the Coast Guard’s news release on Lane’s operation in the Cook Islands, officials said that “these boardings focused on verifying compliance with Cook Island fisheries regulations, including proper licensing, gear restrictions and reporting requirements. The increased presence of law enforcement activity serves as a deterrent to potential illegal fishing activities. Additionally, the Harriet Lane crew’s presence deters increasing trends of drug smuggling in the Pacific.”
“This operation is an example of the enduring partnership between the United States and the Cook Islands,” said Cmdr. Nicholas Gilmore, U.S. Coast Guard attache to the American embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. “We are committed to working alongside our Cook Islands partners to promote maritime security, protect valuable marine ecosystems, and ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for the region.”
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