The award is given annually to an individual or group whose sustained and significant contributions in scientific research, enforcement, international cooperation, or management have helped improve the conservation of anadromous salmon and steelhead stocks in the North Pacific Ocean.
O’Shea was presented with the award on May 17 at the commission’s 27th annual meeting in Portland, Oregon.
NPAFC officials said O’Shea is being recognized for his contributions in the areas of compliance and enforcement to the commission’s mission to conserve and manage anadromous salmon and steelhead stocks in the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas.
He has contributed substantially to the functioning of the commission’s Committee on Enforcement for many years. From 1991 through 1996, he served in US Coast Guard headquarters’ Office of Law Enforcement as program manager for fisheries law enforcement. There he was responsible for policy and resources for all Coast Guard fisheries law enforcement domestic and foreign activities.
O’Shea coordinated Coast Guard participation in the NPAFC as part of the Coast Guard’s ongoing operations in the North Pacific against use of large-scale high seas driftnets.