United States Coast Guard > About Us > Our Organization > Missions > Maritime_Law

Maritime Law Enforcement

The Maritime Law Enforcement program protects America’s maritime borders from encroachment, defends our Nation’s maritime sovereignty from illicit activity, facilitates legitimate use of the waterways, and suppresses violations of federal law on, under and over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The Coast Guard is the lead federal maritime law enforcement agency and the only agency with both the authority and capability to enforce national and international law on the high seas, outer continental shelf, and inward from the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to inland waters. Coast Guard responsibilities include detecting and interdicting contraband and illegal drug traffic; at sea enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and policies; enforcing our Nation’s fisheries and marine protected resource laws and regulations; ensuring the integrity of the EEZ, monitoring compliance with international living marine resource regimes and international agreements to which the U.S. is party; and through compliance with international agreements, combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing that negatively impacts maritime and economic security in coastal and regional areas worldwide.

Drug Interdiction
The Drug Interdiction mission supports national and international strategies to deter and disrupt the market for illegal drugs, dismantle Transnational Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations, and prevent transnational threats from reaching the U.S. The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for drug interdiction on the high seas. In the territorial seas of the U.S., it shares the lead with CBP, and receives assistance from numerous other agencies. The Coast Guard strategy is to maintain a strong interdiction presence that denies smugglers access to maritime routes and deters trafficking activity; to strengthen ties with source and transit zone nations to increase their willingness and ability to reduce the production and trafficking of illicit drugs within their sovereign boundaries and territorial seas; and to support interagency and international efforts to combat drug smuggling through increased cooperation and coordination.
Migrant Interdiction
The Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO) mission provides effective law enforcement presence at-sea and achieves three main objectives: deter undocumented migrants and transnational smugglers from using maritime routes to enter the U.S.; detect and interdict undocumented migrants and smugglers far from the U.S. border; and expand Coast Guard participation in multi-agency and bi-national border security initiatives. Strong partnerships and information sharing with other agencies, such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are critical to mission success. While the Coast Guard leads the interdiction mission on the high seas, partnerships with CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are critical for successful shore-side interdiction operations.
Living Marine resources
Living Marine Resources (LMR) Law Enforcement is an obligation under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Endangered Species Act and several other federal laws focused on the protection of marine resources. The core objective of these efforts is to provide effective and professional enforcement to advance national goals for the conservation, management, and recovery of living marine resources, marine protected species, and national marine sanctuaries and monuments. This includes the enforcement of LMR regulations in addition to numerous other activities that strengthen both domestic and international fisheries management regimes.
Other Law Enforcement
The Other Law Enforcement (OLE) mission involves the enforcement of marine resource regulations on foreign fishing vessels. This enforcement takes two forms. The first is the deterrence, detection, and interdiction of illegal foreign fishing vessel incursions into the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which represent a threat to our nation’s renewable natural resources and a violation of United States sovereignty. Protecting the U.S. EEZ is a fundamental Coast Guard maritime security objective. The second aspect is ensuring compliance with international agreements for the management of living marine resources. This is accomplished through enforcement of conservation and management measures created by Regional Fishery Management Organizations. The Coast Guard also helps build organic enforcement capacity within partner nations for resource management and commercial fishery regulations. These partnerships serve as force multipliers, helping to monitor compliance with various international agreements and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity worldwide.