The United States Coast Guard concluded its participation in Operation Nasse on 11 July 2025, finishing a three-month multinational mission to enforce fisheries rules and gather compliance intelligence across the high seas of the Pacific.

Operation Nasse was coordinated by Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States, with Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands joining as regional partners. The Coast Guard’s Oceania District ran the joint coordination centre from Base Honolulu to direct both aerial and maritime assets during the operation.

Operations and participating assets

The mission covered more than 6.54 million square nautical miles of targeted high-seas areas in the Pacific. Participating platforms included the USCGC Harriet Lane, the New South Wales Police vessel Nemesis and French Navy ships Auguste Benebig and Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, together with several aircraft deployed for surveillance and monitoring.

Key operational figures recorded by authorities during the three-month period included 80 aerial sightings of fishing vessels and 31 high-seas boardings. The multi-jurisdictional approach enabled partners to marshal a wider set of assets than any single state could provide alone.

  • USCGC Harriet Lane (ship)
  • Nemesis, New South Wales Police (ship)
  • Auguste Benebig, French Navy (ship)
  • Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, French Navy (ship)
  • Several maritime and aerial surveillance aircraft

Enforcement results and reporting

During the operation authorities reported 39 potential violations to the relevant flag states for further action. The operation’s boardings and sightings provided material for those referrals but did not themselves determine the final outcome of any alleged breaches.

Alongside enforcement activity, the exercise was designed to improve the quantity and quality of fishing-activity data. Partners sought better compliance insight to support scientific assessment, with a particular focus on South Pacific Albacore stocks.

The joint coordination centre in Honolulu provided the tactical link between surveillance aircraft, ships on station and national authorities responsible for follow-up. That structure allowed real-time tasking across vast ocean areas and rapid dissemination of sightings to states with jurisdiction.

Operation Nasse represents a regionally focused model that combined PQUAD partners with Pacific island nations to address high-seas fishing challenges. By integrating law-enforcement patrols, aerial surveillance and data collection, the partners aimed to strengthen both immediate compliance and the evidence base for longer-term fishery management.

The United States Coast Guard noted the operation as a completed phase of its involvement on 11 July 2025; participating nations will continue to work through reported infringements and use the gathered data to inform stock assessments and future compliance efforts.