Operation Pulse: A Collaborative Effort Between Washington Fish and Wildlife Police, NOAA, and US Customs and Border Patrol to Enforce Commercial Fishing Laws

"Operation Pulse"

State Fish and Wildlife agencies occupy a critical role in the fight against illegal, undocumented, unregulated (IUU) fishing. While the West Coast seafood industry was built on domestic fishing, the infrastructure, cultural diversity, and world-wide market connections have made it an attractive place for international brokers, importers and exporters to operate. Some of the largest commercial ports in the United States are found in Washington, where large quantities of fish and shellfish are delivered, traded, transported, stored and shipped. Choke points such as freight forwarders, retail markets, airports and cold storage facilities provide limitless opportunities to identify illegally harvested product linked to domestic and international fisheries.

Operation Pulse was a collaborative effort to trace seafood backwards to its source to determine compliance and detect violations.   Over 11 months, 163 inspections were conducted and 533 violations were uncovered.

See the full report on Operation Pulse here