Louise Mandour-Brackin

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2009 Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar

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“Tuna piracy is more than a commercial threat. A state that cannot police its fisheries cannot prevent the smuggling of humans, narcotics, or weaponry.”

Louise Mandour-Brackin, who has just completed her BSc in Government at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, has been awarded a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship from the Australian-American Fulbright Commission for 12 months research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Her research will form part of a Master’s Degree in International Law and International Relations, and will focus on the enforcement of fisheries law in the South Pacific. She said that illegal tuna fishing is an important issue for Australia as it reflects on capability to enforce maritime law, and ensure security on national and global levels.

“Many states of Oceania rely on the sea for their livelihood, but lack the maritime resources to prevent illegal tuna fishing,” Louise said.

“Attempts have been made for Australia, the U.S, Japan and New Zealand to institute maritime surveillance in the South Pacific, but this has been hampered by differing definitions of freedom of the seas."

Louise will draw on the U.S. Coast Guard’s strategic international engagement in both the North Pacific and West African waters to develop a new framework of international-level maritime engagement in the South Pacific. Her study will encompass three areas of research, maritime defence force capabilities, the sustainability of current operations in specific island countries, and a survey of the resources available for expansion through international cooperation, especially with the United States.

Louise will also work with the Australian Defence Force Academy (a partnership of the UNSW and the Australian Defence Force) and she hopes this will strengthen the working partnerships between the Australian and U.S. military academies.

Louise has a B.S. in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy of the United States. She is active in sports such as yoga, tennis, and aikido and while she was a cadet in the Coast Guard, Louise also taught ballroom and swing dance. When she returns to the U.S., Louise will serve as a junior officer onboard the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf.

Louise is one of 19 American Fulbright Scholars travelling to Australia in 2009/2010.