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Image: Armada del Ecuador / FIS
GALAPEX II exercise seeks to combat illegal fishing
(ECUADOR, 10/26/2023)
More than 700 military personnel from around the world mobilized against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, during the Multinational Maritime Authority Exercise GALAPEX II 2023. Between September 18 and 30, representatives of navies and guards coastal areas of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, United States, France, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United Kingdom and the European Union, trained in the city of Salinas and in Santa Cruz (Galapagos Islands), in Ecuador.
Activities included maritime interdiction, boarding, tactical maneuvers and communications. The objective was to “strengthen operational capabilities, maintain interoperability and strengthen collaborative ties,” the Ecuadorian Navy, host of the exercise, reported in a statement.
The participants formed a Multinational Task Force to combat IUU fishing in waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands.
 Rear Admiral Oscar Novoa, commander of Naval Operations of the Ecuadorian Navy and commander of the GALAPEX II 2023 Multinational Task Force, recalled that the Galapagos Islands were declared a Natural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1978, for their unique biodiversity in the world.
“However, our enchanted islands also face considerable challenges, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which threatens migratory marine species and the biodiversity of the region,” said Rear Adm. Noboa at the opening ceremony. "Hence, the primary objective of this exercise lies precisely in addressing this problem and devising concrete strategies to confront it more effectively."
The multinational force was made up of a frigate from the Peruvian Navy, two ships from the US Coast Guard and six surface units from the Ecuadorian Navy, as well as two naval aero units from the Naval Aviation Command.
.jpg) “GALAPEX 2023 is not only a naval exercise. “It is a testament to the ability of nations to come together in the fight against common threats and to protect our environment,” said Rear Adm. Noboa.
“It is important that the security and defense forces do this type of exercises, to have practice in coordinating operations and share learning and methodologies. In this way, experiences are shared that have taken each of the forces many years to acquire,” Milko Schvartzman, an expert in marine conservation and IUU fishing at the Argentine NGO Círculo de Políticas Ambientales, told Diálogo.
Area Unit Tracking
In the first four days of the exercise, the phase called Work Up (Preparation) was carried out, with combined communication maneuvers 24 hours a day and tactical training (monitoring of surface units), reported the Argentine Zona Militar site.
Then came the Scenario phase, where the different participating units carried out a cooperative and non-cooperative approach exercise. “In this stage, a collision circumstance was simulated of a ship located in the strip of sea adjacent to the territory where inspections are carried out as part of routine procedures, as well as responsibility as a maritime authority,” Military Zone completed.
Multinational force
In his speech to the participants, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander of the Ecuadorian Navy Sebastián Gallardo Romero, warned about the threats of IUU fishing. “It is well known that IUU fishing activity in the sector is present through a foreign flag fishing fleet, which normally travels throughout the Southern Cone, from the coasts of Argentina to the coasts of Costa Rica in the north,” said Capt. from Corb. Gallant.
According to the official, last year alone more than 250 vessels fished off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador. Likewise, between January and December 2022, approximately 400 vessels were seen sailing from west to south of the Galapagos Islands, of which only about 180 transmitted their identification daily. These vessels put at risk the more than 7,000 endemic species of the Galapagos Islands, including the hammerhead shark, essential for the region's ecosystem.
“Our proposal [is] for unity and coordinated work with the rest of [the] navies, so that in the future there will not be a single naval unit that is protecting these resources, which at the end of the day belong to humanity and that the materialization of a multinational maritime task force is the appropriate response to these acts,” concluded Capt. from Corb. Gallant.
Source: Dialogo Américas (Traslated from the original in Spanish)
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