BY GEORGINA KEKEA
THE Kurukuru joint maritime operation is reportedly successful with Patrol Boat Auki having patrolled the country’s waters for the past 10 days.
Police Commissioner, Matthew Varley is quite pleased with Operation Kurukuru.
In his weekly media conference, Varley says he is quite happy with the police maritime team for a successful operation.
He said the past 10 days, Patrol Boat Auki had been patrolling the waters of Solomon Islands mainly to look for Unreported, Unregulated, illegal (UUI) fishing boats.
Operation Kurukuru is an annual joint exercise of Pacific Forum nations, intended to combat illegal fishing.
“The operation was coordinated by FFA and a police maritime officer was involved in the coordination side as a watch keeper in the coordination centre,” Varley said.
He said officers on Patrol Boat Auki boarded 14 foreign fishing boats in this operation.
“13 vessels and one yacht.”
Varley said the officers mainly boarded the vessels to check for licences and the boats compliance to the country’s laws.
Solomon Islands was reported to lose out on billions of dollars from IUU fishing. The first Kurukuru exercise took place in 2005.
For 2018, Varley said several of this exercise had been done already via operation Kurukuru.
