Russians Stealing Fish; Coast Guard Has Just One Boat

At a hearing Thursday of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security Subcommittee, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) expressed his concern to U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Thomas H. Collins over his agency's current patrol capabilities of the North Pacific's Maritime Boundary Line. The Coast Guard currently has one vessel patrolling this area.

Stevens (right) argued that Alaska, with half the coastline of the United States and with more than fifty percent of the naturally-produced fish that Americans consume coming from its waters, needs more than one cutter. He further noted the increase in the amount of incursions of the Maritime Boundary Line recently by several Russian pollock factory trawlers, which have utilized coordinated incursions to gain access to valuable resources in U.S. waters.

"There have been a significant number of incursions in the North Pacific in the fishing grounds, with an increasing number of foreign vessels coming across the Maritime Boundary Line, said Stevens. "I am concerned about that and wonder if it isn't time to look at some high-tech concepts to increase the surveillance and decrease the potential for incursions."

Stevens suggested that the Coast Guard look at the possibility of using the Predator UAV to patrol the North Pacific's Maritime Boundary and said he would ask the Committee to request that the Coast Guard present a plan for the modernization of the surveillance of these waters. [The Predator can also be armed with a missile, making it a UCAV. A Predator, you may recall, was used last year to take out CIA targets riding in a car, in Yemen --ed.]

"I have suggested the use of Predators to patrol the boundary line and to have onboard warning capabilities to warn foreign vessels that they are entering U.S. waters. I hope the Committee will support that concept and that we'll push towards having the greatest use of new technology available in surveillance of the maritime boundary, said Stevens. "In my judgement, the use of the Predator's high technology will make up for the imbalance in terms of assignment in your vessels. I urge you to get us a plan for moving forward in that area and using that kind of technology. It will not increase your manpower. It will not increase your cost accept in terms of acquisition costs of new technology. The people that operate the Predators could be sitting in San Diego and work on the Predators that are over the waters of Alaska. It is an entirely new concept of lifesaving and protection of our resource that I think we've got to move into as rapidly as possible," said Stevens.

FMI: www.senate.gov/~stevens