The week long com­bined Operation Kurukuru in­spected 12 fishing vessels and a few pleasure crafts within Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and territorial waters.

The combined opera­tion was carried out by the Fiji Navy and the Ministry of Fisheries officers on board Repub­lic of Fiji Naval Ship (RFNS) Kula.

Fleet operations Officer Lieutenant Commander (Navy) Timoci Natuva, said the operation fo­cused on fisheries protec­tion.

Operation Kurukuru was conducted from Oc­tober 3 to 12, 2018.

“During the operation, RFNS Kula boarded and inspected 12 fishing ves­sels and some pleasure crafts,” Lieutenant Com­mander (Navy) Natuva said yesterday.

According to Lieuten­ant Commander (Navy) Natuva the maritime surveillance center also carried out six dockside and harbour boardings during the same period.

“There were no in­fringements with the ves­sels boarded,” he said.

“Such operations al­lowed close coordination between forum member countries and Forum Fisheries agencies in fisheries protection and maritime surveillance.

“There were a total of 25 personnel onboard RFNS Kula and a fisheries of­ficer from the Ministry of Fisheries.

“The RFNS Kula will continue to take an inte­grated approach to fish­eries surveillance with national bodies and re­gional partners.

“This type of operation promotes the sharing of information and resourc­es contributing to better detection of vessels at sea.

“While there was no de­tection of illegal activity at sea in Operation Ku­rukuru 2018, the opera­tion and the presence of RFNS Kula provided ef­fective deterrence to po­tential offenders.”

The same operation was carried out by 13 other countries in the region.