ANCHORAGE (AP) — A vessel suspected of illegal driftnet fishing on the high seas was transferred to China by the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday.

A Honolulu-based Coast Guard cutter assigned to Alaska encountered the 177-foot (54-meter) fishing ship in late July about 850 miles (1,369 kilometers) east of Tokyo. Coast Guard personnel boarded the ship and found 30 metric tons — more than 66,000 pounds — of albacore tuna. They also found 6 metric tons of shark bodies and fins on board.

Coast Guard officials said Chinese citizens were operating the vessel, called the Da Cheng. The cutter has since fol...