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Month: January 2023

The detrimental impact of Chinese DWF on the environment

Editor011 mins

With the local and domestic marine life depleted, many of the industrialized nations such as China are looking towards foreign waters to meet the need for seafood. This had led to the exploitation of less industrialized and under-developed nations, especially in Africa and Latin America. Not only are these distant water fishing fleets competing with the local fishermen but also are responsible for overfishing and extraction of unsustainable amounts of seafood through illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. According to our comprehensive report, China has deployed its distant-water fishing (DWF) vessels across every ocean around the globe. It has also been found guilty of trespassing in the Exclusive Economic Zones of more than 80 countries and fishing outside its EEZ on the high seas. With more than 18,000 boats in the world’s oceans, China has consistently ranked top in seafood production and fish capture. Producing almost 12 million tons of live weight, almost double of Indonesia, the second largest producer, it is quite evident that Chinese DWF is heavily engaged in IUU fishing activities and catching way above the surplus amount. Distant-water fishing fleets are vessels that operate within the EEZs of other countries that have signed access agreements to allow these fleets to fish inside their territories as well as on the high seas. However, the DWFs are only allowed to take the ‘surplus’ fish not caught by the host country against a fee negotiated under the access agreement. According to our findings in the comprehensive report, Chinese authorities have not published any statistics regarding catch or stocks, and these fleets have been catching well above the surplus. In addition, there have been accusations about them falsifying licenses & documentation, espionage & reconnaissance activities, seizing territories, generating a lot of sea waste, and targeting endangered shark species. Pollution caused by the DWF The distant-water fishing vessels travel from one side of the globe to the other side. This means a lot of fuel is consumed during multi-day trips. A trip from China to western Latin America (the East Pacific Ocean) would take around 43 days and a trip to the eastern part of Latin America ( the Mid-Atlantic Ocean) would be completed in approximately 49 days on a ship going at the speed of 10kt. Assuming that one of these trawlers is powered by a 5000 HP engine, fuel consumption for one of these trips to Ecuador would be 416,783.27 gallons for a petrol engine and 283,063.88 gallons for a diesel one. Similarly, from China to Brazil, the same trawler would consume 475,258 gallons of petrol or 322,768.74 gallons of diesel. While the fuel consumption decreases at cruising speed, these numbers would still be high enough to raise eyebrows in shock. Consumption of even 1 gallon of petrol/diesel produces Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Sulfur (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NOx), Nitric Oxide (N2O), Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and Hydrocarbons (HCs). One can estimate the damage that the Chinese Shipping vessels are doing to the environment. The Chinese Bottom Trawlers The majority of vessels that are engaged in distant-water fishing are trawlers and longliners. Trawlers are large boats that have large weighted nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. Trawling is considered an ecologically taxing fishing activity that causes a lot of damage to marine life, marine habitats, coral reefs, and sea beds. The destruction of coral reefs where marine animals live and the breed has led to reduced population and marine diversity. This is leading to ocean acidification, warmer seas, and reduced oxygen levels in the water. While China has banned bottom trawling within its territory, it has encouraged its DWF vessels to conduct trawling activities close to other countries’ EEZs in Africa, South America, Russia, and littoral states of the Indian Ocean, South, and mid-Atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean. The Chinese Longliners Another type of vessel commonly used by the Chinese for DWF is the long-liners. Long lining is a type of fishing method that uses a large number of short lines with hooks which are then attached to a longer main line at regular distances. The main line can extend up to 10 km with thousands of shorter lines with baited hooks floating along the surface of the ocean to catch pelagic fish species such as tuna or marlin. However, the baited hooks can attract other species of fish too, resulting in a substantial amount of unwanted bycatch. Moreover, these long lines also kill larger animals such as turtles, sharks, whales, and even sea birds that come in the way of sharp hooks. Long liners are also notorious for ghost fishing. Ghost fishing is a term used to describe fishing done by any derelict gear, which is lost, abandoned, or discarded. Such fishing gear, uncollected by the fishermen, floats around in the ocean freely and catches and even kills animals trapped in them. The long lines, which float on the ocean surface, can detach or break if any ship passes over them. Once separated from the marker buoys, the detached lines are difficult to find, becoming ghost gear. Garbage dumps in the ocean Ghost gears contribute a lot to the waste generated by the longliners in addition to containers of marine oil, bottles, Chinese-labeled jute bags, etc. In the Galapagos Islands, Chinese boats have been dumping gigantic amounts of plastic waste in the water. They are responsible for killing wildlife and polluting the water of a place that is home to more than 7,000 endemic species. According to experts, about 30% of the garbage on the islands’ shores comes from Chinese fleet fishing at Ecuador’s coasts and marine protected areas.   At a time when all countries around the world are changing their policies in favor of environmental conservation, the Chinese are still aggressively engaged in activities that are extremely detrimental to the environment. Overfishing, dumping waste into marine protected areas, polluting air, water, and land alike, disturbing and destroying the coral reefs, killing…

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Impacts of Chinese DWF on Latin America

Editor08 mins

From the waters of Japan, and South Korea in the east to those of Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina in the west through the African continent, Chinese fishing vessels have posed a serious threat to the marine environment across the globe. Catching somewhere between 50-70% of the world’s total squids, the methods and activities of Chinese DWF vessels are highly suspicious as well as controversial. Despite a distance of 19,000 km from western south America and 22,000 km from the eastern part of the continent, the presence of Chinese fleets in the region has been increasing at a rapid rate. In early July 2020, the Ecuadorian navy reported the presence of about 260 fishing vessels at the edge of Ecuador’s EEZ. By the end of the month, the number increased to 340. The Galapagos Islands, which are a part of Ecuador’s territory are the worst victim. The problem arises due to the fact that the EEZ of Ecuador’s mainland and the Galapagos do not overlap, thus creating an international corridor where any country can fish. The Chinese fleet often freely fish in the area after turning off their identity transponders to avoid detection. It was found that almost half of the Chinese fleet is engaged in this practice, often known as “marine radar evasion” in the illegal fishing sector. Not only do the Chinese overfish and kill protected species such as sharks and turtles, but also dump a huge amount of waste in the ocean water. Experts estimate that almost 30% of the garbage collected on the shores of the Galapagos Islands comes from Chinese fleets. This includes bottles, containers of marine oil, Chinese-labeled jute bags, and waste generate overboard the ships. The issue of the Galapagos has been raised again and again by various media outlets. IJ-Reportika spoke with many local fishermen who confirmed that Chinese ships often fish in the area with transponders disabled or with deceiving flags known as the ‘flag of convenience’. The menace of Chinese DWF fleets is not just limited to the Galapagos but to the entire continent. Argentina is home to the second-largest squid fishery in the world which makes it an important target of Chinese trawlers. Even though the Argentine authorities have taken strict measures and even sunk a fishing trawler flying the Chinese flag after being caught illegally fishing within the country’s EEZ, the vessels have spent close to 600,000 hours ‘dark-fishing’.  A similar issue persists in Brazil where a massive gain in Chinese fishing activities was observed in the last three years. In Uruguay, the navy caught a Chinese-flagged vessel within their EEZ, carrying 11 tons of Squid. These vessels are causing a lot of concern for Uruguayan authorities as well as locals as they are not only present near the EEZ but also dangerously close to their land boundary. In Peru, the local fishermen sounded the alarm about Chinese overfishing of giant squid, which is the country’s second biggest marine resource after anchovies. Because of Chinese incursions thousands of Peruvians have lost their jobs and the fishing industry is on the verge of being wiped out. Moreover, the Chinese presence has completely derailed Peru’s thoughtful sustainability program for the squid population in the region. During our investigation, we found several squid jiggers at the Peruvian land boundary last year. As a result, diplomatic and legal protests are erupting all through the continent of South America against the Chinese DWF fleets. These fleets are often linked to illegal activities such as encroaching on other nations’ territorial waters, abusing workers, and catching protected and endangered species. In 2017, Ecuador seized a refrigerated cargo ship, the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, carrying an illicit cargo of 6,620 sharks, whose fins are a delicacy in China. Although Shark fishing is banned throughout Central and South America, Chinese communities consume it as a delicacy. This demand encourages the ships to mock the laws and completely ignore the bans, hiding their illegal catch by transferring it between ships to evade naval or coast guard patrols. On top of that, they have been generating and dumping huge amounts of plastic waste into the ocean, thus polluting the water and land alike. The ever-increasing presence of Chinese vessels in Latin America is posing diplomatic, security, and environmental threat to the region. Protected species and marine protected environments are at a greater threat due to unregulated fishing by the Chinese. The Distant-water fishing operations affect not only the marine ecology but also the local fisherfolk population who lose their jobs and subsequently engage in illegal activities such as drug trafficking to make ends meet. Latin American countries must impose stricter controls in order to protect and defend their resources from illegal exploitation by the Chinese.

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Impacts of Chinese DWF on the South China Sea littoral states

Editor09 mins

Historically speaking, China has claimed the majority of the South China Sea as part of its territory which includes the Paracel Islands, Spratly islands, Pratas Island, Vereker Banks, Macclesfield Bank, and the Scarborough shoal. All these places fall under the much disputed “nine-dash line” markings which are based on a 1947 map. In 1946, a map having eleven dashes or dots was published by the Chinese government. However, two dashes in the Gulf of Tonkin were later removed when a treaty was signed with Vietnam. Many of the Chinese neighboring states including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam have tried to claim these lands as their own, rejecting the questionable map. The main issue with the “nine-dash line” lies in the fact that it is an arbitrary collection of dashes without specific coordinates. Based on this map, China asserts rights to more than 80% of the South China Sea. Any official explanation regarding its origin or even its precise delimitation has never been provided by China. On top of that, the regions claimed by China as part of its territory directly lie in conflict with Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of multiple countries in the area like Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.   Despite protests by these countries, China has deployed its distant-water fishing fleet in the EEZs of Vietnam and the Philippines. According to data reported by IJ-Reportika, China has fished for over a million hours last year through its Long-liners, Tuna purse seines, Squid jiggers, and Trawlers. While the Chinese DWF activities are not very significant in the South China Sea, overfishing and climate change have led to the depletion of marine resources in the area. Since 2000, the catch rates have declined by 70% and large fish stocks have depleted by 90% in the region. Despite the declining marine resources in the region, it is surprising that Chinese activities have increased in the area while banning the fishing activities of other countries in the region. Every year since 1999, China imposes a ban on fishing activities from May to August in the area including the Gulf of Tonkin and Paracel islands which are disputed territories. Vietnam condemned this ban and released a statement saying, “Vietnam requests China to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over Paracel islands…without complicating the situation towards maintaining peace, stability, and order in the East Sea.” The Philippines has shown contempt for the ban saying “This ban doesn’t apply to us. Our fisherfolk are encouraged to go out and fish in our waters in the West Philippine Sea.” Interestingly, this ban does not apply to Chinese fishermen who have an official license to fish in the contested waters. It is worth noting that the Chinese DWF vessels are not only there to fish but also operate as de facto maritime militias under the control of the Beijing authorities. There have also been reports of construction activities being conducted by the Chinese in the Spratly islands over the past decade. Legally speaking, this area is not a part of China’s territory, but that has not stopped the Chinese from building reefs, islands, and other formations and even militarizing them with ports, runways, and other infrastructure. According to multiple media reports and satellite imagery, in the past decade, they have carried out construction activities at four unoccupied features in the Spratly islands. A Chinese maritime vessel was seen offloading a hydraulic excavator which is used in land reclamation projects. It is also reported that new land formations have appeared above water in the Eldad Reef of the northern Spratly islands, which were only exposed during the high tide. The images show large holes, debris piles, and excavator tracks at the site. Similar activities have taken place on Panata Island in the Philippines, where a new perimeter wall was seen around a feature. These activities have resulted in the expansion of some sand bars and other formations in the area by at least ten times. Although any reclamation activities by China are in direct conflict with the 2016 ruling by the International Tribunal, other nations in the region are forced to undertake their own reclamation work. According to a report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Vietnam has expanded dredging and landfill work at several of Spratly outposts and have created roughly 1.7 sq. km of new land in 2022. Following the reports of landfill work and mooring by Chinese ships in the area, the Philippines have also increased their military presence in the region. As China continues to foray into the disputed waters despite warnings, it is interesting to see the South China Sea through the lens of strategic geopolitical location. With the growing tension in the area, China has been investing more and more in the Navy and coast guard to defend its claim over this territory and increased its presence in the region through fishing fleets. The area could prove to be of significant military importance if the US decided to jump into the regional war, supporting Taiwan’s fight for sovereignty. It is safe to say that China won’t give up control of the region any time soon, even if it means upsetting a few powerful economies.

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Impacts of Chinese DWF on the Asian countries

Editor010 mins

China’s Distant-water fishing fleet, which operates on the high seas and also in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries, is the biggest fleet in the world with an estimated 2,700 ships. The distant-water fishing sector is infamous for being secretive and unregulated as many countries fail to publish their fishing data. This is not surprising given the fact that it is often found guilty of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, targeting prohibited species and causing irreversible environmental damage as well as intelligence gathering, espionage, and space tracking. The presence of illegal Chinese DWF vessels is felt all over the world, but it is particularly worse in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), South China Sea region, as well as East Asian countries, and Russia, are all victims of IUU fishing and violation of EEZ by Chinese vessels. Despite the fact that the IOR has the presence of many countries in the region, the Chinese DWF fleets have increasingly become a hazard, especially in the Northern Indian Ocean region (NIOR). The NIOR is an important region as most of the world’s maritime traffic passes through it, hence the presence of dubious Chinese DWFs raises concern.    The NIOR, which comprises countries like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, and Oman, is seeing a surge in unregistered Chinese fishing vessels. According to the Indian Navy, they monitored more than 392 Chinese IUU fishing incidences in the Indian Ocean in 2021 compared to 379 in 2020. It is also reported that spy ships disguised as fishing boats are being used by the Chinese to gather intelligence data and spy on assets of other countries, including India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands. While the other countries have seen a significant increase in Chinese activities in their EEZ, in Pakistan on the other hand, the presence of China’s DWF is minimal and on a downward slope. Could it be a benefit of being a trading partner and ally to China? The island nations in the NIOR like Sri Lanka and Maldives have reported the presence of Chinese DWF vessels such as squid jiggers, trawlers, and long liners that fish in the area before moving to other target areas like Oman in the Arabian Sea. The Chinese vessels in Oman, according to our report, often misuse the Iranian flag as a disguise and are engaged in fishing at an industrial scale. This activity has increased exponentially since 2016. A similar issue persists in Iran where the trawlers are taking close to 46,000 tons of commercial fish, as stated in a report from the Iranian parliament. This is leading to depletion in numbers of protected species and dolphins which are killed by commercial dragnets. Reflagging themselves under Iran’s flags, these trawlers fish for seahorses, who are then dried and powdered to be used in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM). Eastern Indian Ocean Region In the eastern IOR, nations like Indonesia and Malaysia are sea-based economies that are highly dependent on fishing. As Chinese DWFs with huge capacities stay longer in the area, the local fishermen are finding it tough to earn their daily bread and butter. Indonesian laborers, who work on some of these fishing vessels, suffer racial abuse and exploitation at the hands of their Chinese managers. It has been reported that between 2019 and 2020, 30 Indonesian fishermen died onboard Chinese long-haul fishing boats because of substandard food, dangerous drinking water, and excessive working hours. Due to its close proximity to China, East Asian nations like Japan and South Korea are the most vulnerable and the most impacted by Chinese vessels. South Korea has also reported Chinese-flagged ships fishing in their EEZ. The western region neighboring China is the worst affected with over 300K hours of illegal fishing done by Chinese vessels. The governments of South Korea and China have held several talks to smooth out this issue since the beginning of the last decade, which have failed to bear any fruit. Chinese coast guard ships and fishing vessels have been making attempts to change the status quo by coercion in the Senkaku islands. Chinese ships mounted with artillery approached Japanese ships in the Japanese territory. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a statement saying, “The Senkaku Islands are indisputably an inherent part of the territory of Japan in light of historical facts and based upon international law, and are, in fact, effectively under the Japanese control… It is a violation of international law for the China Coast Guard ships to act making their assertions in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, and such acts will not be tolerated.“ Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Quite surprisingly, Chinese trawlers were also spotted in the EEZ of Russia. The vessels have done over a million hours of dark surfing in the Russian far-east. While many countries have strongly opposed the fishing activities by Chinese vessels, some have taken strict measures. Indonesia, for example, has sunk many Chinese ships in the last four years which were dangerously close to their land boundary. The Quad, comprising India, Australia, Japan, and the US have announced a major regional effort under the ambit of Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPDMA) aimed to provide more accurate maritime pictures of activities in the region. As the Chinese distant-water fishing activities are growing rapidly and unsustainably all around the world, it is depleting global fish stocks and disrupting the marine ecosystem. Moreover, it is increasingly becoming a source of diplomatic and environmental tensions with other nations. Hence, it has become imperative to introduce laws, policies, and strict measures to keep it in check.

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Impacts of Chinese DWF on the African region

Editor012 mins

China is consistently ranked at number 1 in the global list of 152 countries practicing Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Being an industrialized nation, China has been forcing its way into other poorer countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), forcing the local fishermen out of jobs and disrupting the local marine ecosystem. The worst hit is taken by countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).  According to our report, about 20% of the global IUU catch comes from just six western African countries – Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. There have been multiple incidents of Chinese incursions and conflicts with the local African fishermen. Mauritania is suffering from Chinese incursions and aggressive fishing vessels since 2018. In 2020, three Mauritanian artisanal fishermen died when their boat was struck by a large Chinese Trawler. Despite being a smaller EEZ, it has been reported that the Chinese have spent over 2 million hours fishing. In Senegal and Liberia, Chinese industrialized trawlers have been denied permission in 2019 which naturally decreased Chinese activities in the region. However, the incursions of the trawlers and conflicts with local fishermen have come to light. In Cameroon, a sea area up to 3nm from the coast is reserved for artisanal and local fishermen. However, the local fishermen have accused Chinese trawlers of taking away all the catch including fingerlings and other fishes like ‘Awacha’, Mossubu, Trong Kanda, Crab, or Njenga, popular in Cameroon. The Western Sahara region has seen a massive gain in fishing activity in the past three years. Most prominent fishing regions in the West of Africa (Mid-Atlantic Ocean) are depleting due to disproportionate fishing activity. Thus, China is veering its DWF to the North-West of Africa. In 2022, China fished for over a million hours in the Western Sahara EEZ. The European Union also has its fishing fleet in Western Sahara competing for fish with its Chinese counterparts. In the competition, the loser is always the local communities of Western Sahara.  In 2021, many Chinese trawlers were arrested after the Minister of Fisheries in Gabon declared a crackdown on Illegal Fishing by the Trawlers. Despite this, the presence of Chinese Trawlers at the land boundary of Gabon was seen all around the year 2022. In Ghana, a group of fishers called “Saiko” have become a source of transshipment and selling bycatch caught by Chinese trawlers to the local markets. In addition to illegal fishing, Chinese vessels are also engaged in smuggling fentanyl from China to Africa and wildlife products for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) from Africa to China. Eastern Africa In the Eastern African region, the activity of Chinese DWF vessels has been on the rise since 2016. It has been reported that these vessels often use flags of the countries they are fishing in to hide their identity. Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is also seen escorting the fishing vessels near the choke point of the Horn of Africa in the name of providing protection from pirates. Unlike the countries in western Africa, the government of Somalia has signed agreements with Chinese fishing companies to allow Chinese long liners and trawlers in Somali waters. The island nations in East Africa like Seychelles, Mauritius, and Reunion have been permeated by Chinese long liners and squid jiggers. According to tracking data produced by OceanMind, between 2019 and 2021, 132 Chinese-flagged vessels operated in Madagascar’s EEZ, targeting the country’s inshore and offshore fisheries. Chinese investments in the country have seen a sharp rise since 2017. It was only after protests from local people that the government declared the Chinese trawling illegal, forcing them to move to Senegal. Southern Africa South Africa is rich in marine life which attracts a large number of squid jiggers in the area. In April 2020, six Chinese trawlers were detected entering the South African EEZ after being ordered out of Namibian waters. These trawlers were then detained and issued with fines by the South African authorities as they failed to produce the required permission. Issues faced due to the Chinese DWF in African waters The continuous foray of Chinese DWF vessels has caused a ton of issues in African countries ranging from environmental degradation to unemployment of local people. One of those issues is the corruption of governments. Local government officials award excessive fishing permits or take bribes from the Chinese to allow them to continue illegal fishing in the area. They avoid making arrests as they are afraid the Chinese would retract the development aid in retaliation. While the officials are busy making money, the local fishermen are struggling to make ends meet. There have been numerous protests by the locals against the livelihood crisis and environmental damage caused by the Chinese DWF vessels in Senegal, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Gambia, and Togo.  Because of heavy overfishing in the region, the African people are left with nothing to eat. 100 million people of Africa depend on the protein from small pelagic fishes like Sardinella that are fished by 330,000 local fishermen. As Chinese trawlers catch nothing less than 75% of the fish in the area, the local population is suffering from numerous deficiencies of essential minerals. On top of that, many of the African fishers who are working onboard some of these trawlers have accused their Chinese managers of racial abuse. They’ve stated that they have been mistreated, abused, and even threatened to be pushed overboard. Many fishers have died onboard due to the mistreatment by the authorities. Another concerning issue is that the Chinese vessels often use or rather misuse the flag of the countries they are fishing in. It was reported that Chinese vessels Yu Feng 1, 3, and 4 changed from Chinese flag to Ghanaian flag as soon as they entered Ghana’s territory. They fish under the host country’s flag as it protects them from local laws and getting caught by the AIS (Automatic Identification System) as well. The dubious practices by Chinese DWF have long affected the marine environment across the globe, polluting air,…

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0