1998 Year of the Ocean The Oceans and National Security 



Coast Guard is the primary enforcer of U.S. laws that include customs and border control 

 statutes, marine resource protection regulations, and the interdiction of contraband. This law 

 enforcement authority distinguishes the Coast Guard from other branches of the armed forces and 

 provides the nation with unique options for responding to national security challenges.' The 

 Coast Guard's maritime law enforcement role was rooted in its inception as the Revenue Cutter 

 Service in 1790. The Service's 207 years of experience fighting piracy, combating smuggling and 

 fiscal violations, and enforcing other U.S. laws inside U.S. waters make it the Navy's natural 

 partner for national security in sea denial missions, such as maritime interception operations. 



Counterdrug operations have become one of the Coast Guard's most prominent law 

 enforcement missions. The Coast Guard, as the nation's lead agency for maritime interdiction of 

 illegal narcotics and co-lead agency for air interdiction, regularly conducts aggressive 

 counterdrug patrols throughout the Caribbean Sea, eastern Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Joint operations are frequently undertaken in a unified environment involving several 

 different agencies, including the Department of Defense (the lead agency for detection and 

 monitoring), the Department of Justice (which prosecutes those who violate the law), and other 

 civil law enforcement agencies. 



Enforcement of living marine resource regulations is critical to the protection of not only 

 the resources, but also the commercial fishing industry. The National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (NMFS) manages the resources and develops regulations that are enforced at sea by the Coast 

 Guard and NMFS enforcement agents. Most of those matters are handled administratively by 

 NMFS although some actions are brought in court by the Department of Justice. This 

 arrangement has served the North Pacific fisheries well and can hopefully be duplicated to 

 preserve those few remaining stocks off the North Atlantic coast. 



The Coast Guard's prevention, enforcement, and response role in marine environmental 

 protection helps to reduce the amount of pollution entering the world's waterways. In response to 

 marine environmental challenges, the Coast Guard has equipped its newest class of ocean-going 

 buoy tenders with a pollution response capability. As a world leader in marine environmental 

 protection, the Coast Guard, in conjunction with other agencies, shapes the safety and pollution 

 control standards for international and domestic maritime transportation through its policy- 

 making activities and enforcement of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act^ the 

 Clean Water Act^ and the Shore Protection Act.'° and other laws and regulations. 



7 U.S. Coast Guard, National Security and the Coast Guard, (COMDTPUB CP 1 60 1 1 . 1 ), P. 8 (1 995) 

 833 U.S.Code, Section 1401. 



9 33 U.S.Code Sections 1215-1387. 



10 33 U.S.Code, Chapter 39 



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