ODD JOBS: CANADA'S USE OF SUBMARINES ON FISHERIES PATROLS, 1993-1995 PART 2

摘要

We saw in Part One how, under OP AMBUSCADE, HMCS Ojibwa conducted a 'fishpat' on Georges Bank in March 1993, in large part to raise the profile of Canada's submarines. Gaining publicity was also an ingredient of a similar operation carried out the following year on the Grand Banks, but the fisheries situation was far more serious. Newfoundland's once bountiful cod fishery had collapsed, and in 1992 the Canadian government had declared a moratorium on that type of fishing. Canada laid the blame for over-fishing on members of the European Union (EU), particularly Portugal and Spain. They conceded stocks were in crisis and adhered to the moratorium, but they turned to fishing Turbot with the result that stock was soon under pressure. As the crisis escalated, in September HMCS Okanagan was tasked for OP GROUSE, a fisheries patrol off the 200-mile limit of the Grand Banks. Okanagan was commanded by LCDR Larry Hickey, a colorful, aggressive submariner who had previously carried out a demanding patrol against Soviet SSBNs in the Labrador Sea.