REGAN ANNOUNCES FULLTIME AERIAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM ON THE PACIFIC COAST

VANCOUVER - Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced today the implementation of a full-time aerial surveillance program for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in the Pacific Coast. The aircraft, a Beech King Air 200, will operate year-round in a designated patrol area from coastal B.C., including the headwaters of the major inlets, out to the 200 nautical mile limit of Canada’s exclusive economic zone. The primary function of the aircraft will be to conduct DFO fisheries surveillance patrols and to support maritime security. 

Air surveillance patrols will be conducted randomly any day including weekends with a mix of day and night patrols.  Fishery officers will be onboard for all patrols, identifying vessels and their activities and providing expert assessment of marine activities relevant to legislation and regulations. Additionally, patrols will document and report oil spills, identify and monitor marine mammals and their activities and report activities which may threaten fish habitat. The aircraft may also assist with maritime search and rescue and conduct habitat work in the BC Interior and Yukon Territory. The aircraft and crews are provided to DFO under contract with Provincial Aerospace Ltd. (PAL) of St. John’s, Newfoundland. 

The aircraft is fitted with sophisticated equipment enabling target acquisition from distances of up to 200 miles.  PAL developed and maintains an airborne data management system allowing real time in-flight data viewing to all of DFO’s coastal offices and other agencies on the ground.

Data collected is shared, and usually available in real time, to DFO field staff and partner agencies including the Department of National Defence, RCMP’s West Coast Marine Detachment, Canadian Border Services Agency, Transport Canada and Canadian Coast Guard.  Program staff will also work closely with the new Marine Security Operations Centre based at CFB Esquimalt in support of national marine security initiatives.

-30-

For more information please contact:
 

Dan Bate

Communications Officer

Fisheries and Oceans Canada