Countering Chinese Illegal, Unreported & Unregulated Fishing In Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, South China Sea & Indian Ocean: Part II
Chinese fishing vessels are becoming more frequent, brazen, and aggressive in waters around the world, from North Korea to Mexico to Indonesia, raising concerns about potential military conflict, human rights abuses, and environmental damage.
NewsBharati 26-May-2023 10:59:41 AM
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Chinese commercial fishermen serve as paramilitary personnel
The Chinese government uses its commercial fishermen as de facto paramilitary forces to assert territorial dominance in the South China Sea and other contested waters. The Chinese fishing fleet, which makes up the largest fishing fleet in the world, often operates under the guise of a civilian force, but it functions as a "civilian militia" with aggressive and ubiquitous blue-water presence globally. This fleet is often used to push back other fishermen or governments that challenge China's sovereignty claims. While China has expanded its naval force, including advanced research vessels that explore for natural resources, its fishing fleet remains the more aggressive and ubiquitous presence.
The South China Sea is one of the most hotly contested regions in the world, with competing claims from multiple countries, including China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and Indonesia. China's justification for its rights over the region relies on the "nine-dash line" argument, which has no basis under international law and was found to be invalid in a 2016 international court ruling. The interests in the region include fishing rights, lucrative subsea oil and gas deposits, and a political desire for control over a vital waterway that a third of the world's maritime trade flows through.
Chinese fishing vessels are becoming more frequent, brazen, and aggressive in waters around the world, from North Korea to Mexico to Indonesia, raising concerns about potential military conflict, human rights abuses, and environmental damage. The Chinese government's policies, such as subsidizing the industry and supporting the squid fleet with data gleaned from satellites and research vessels, have accelerated ocean depletion. A cohesive international strategy is necessary to manage marine resources and prevent unsafe incidents at sea.
Effect of Chinese Illegal Fishing
These activities have serious consequences for marine ecosystems, including the depletion of fish stocks, damage to seafloor habitats, and the extinction of endangered species. In addition to environmental impacts, these activities also have economic and social impacts on coastal communities of small and poor countries that rely on fishing for their livelihoods.
Territorial Waters may be protected but----
The United States, too, has pledged to assist smaller nations to counter China’s illegal or unregulated fishing practices. The U.S. Coast Guard, which now calls the practice one of the greatest security threats in the oceans, has dispatched patrol ships to the South Pacific.
President Biden has issued a national security memorandum pledging to increase monitoring of the fishing industry. Speaking virtually at a forum of Pacific nations, Vice President Kamala Harris said the United States would triple American assistance to help the nations patrol their waters, offering $60 million a year for the next decade.
Such efforts may help in territorial waters, but they do little to restrict China’s fleet on the open seas. The consumption of fish worldwide continues to rise, reaching a record high recently. At the same time, the known stocks of most species of fish continue to decline, according to the latest report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Stopping Chinese Illegal Activities
These activities are done to maximize profits and meet the demand for seafood in China and other markets. However, these activities have severe consequences for the environment, the sustainability of fish stocks, and the livelihoods of people who depend on fishing .To stop China's deep sea fishing fleet from overfishing, IUU fishing, and engaging in other illegal activities, there are several measures that can be taken:-
1. Strengthening regulations:
Governments can strengthen regulations to monitor and enforce fishing activities, including requiring vessels to have proper licenses, prohibiting the use of banned fishing methods, and enforcing catch limits.There needs to be increased monitoring, surveillance, and enforcement of international fishing regulations. This includes implementing measures such as vessel monitoring systems, port state controls, and catch documentation schemes.
2. Increasing surveillance:
Governments can increase surveillance and monitoring of fishing activities, including through the use of satellite technology, on-board observers, and aerial surveillance.
3. Collaboration among countries:
Countries can work together to share information and coordinate efforts to combat IUU fishing, including through the sharing of vessel tracking data and joint enforcement operations. This requires greater international cooperation and coordination to monitor and enforce fishing regulations, as well as the development of new agreements and treaties to address issues such as illegal fishing and environmental damage. There needs to be greater cooperation between countries to share information and coordinate efforts to combat IUU fishing. This includes promoting transparency in the fishing industry and ensuring that all fishing vessels operate legally and sustainably.
4. Strengthening fisheries management and enforcement systems:
This involves improving monitoring and control of fishing activities, implementing stricter regulations, and enforcing penalties for IUU fishing activities.
Technology such as satellite monitoring and electronic monitoring systems can be used to track and monitor fishing activities, which can help identify and prevent IUU fishing activities.
5. Increase transparency and accountability
in the fishing industry by requiring fishing vessels to be registered and licensed, and mandating the use of traceability systems to track fish from the point of capture to the point of sale. This can help to deter illegal fishing activities and promote sustainable fishing practices.
6. Increase public awareness:
They have serious consequences for the sustainability of fish stocks, the marine ecosystem, and the livelihoods of fishermen around the world.
The environmental and social impacts of illegal fishing, and to encourage consumer demand for sustainably sourced seafood has to be increased. This can help to create a market incentive for legal and sustainable fishing practices, and reduce the demand for illegally caught seafood.
The consumers can play a role in reducing the demand for illegally caught fish by choosing to purchase seafood that is certified as sustainable and responsibly sourced. By taking these actions, we can help to protect the marine ecosystem and ensure that the oceans are managed in a sustainable way for the benefit of all.
State of Indian Deep Sea Fishing
India too must raise its own fleet and build modern harbours to further its economic and security goals. “The fishing fleet is an important component of the sea power of the state. The role of this fleet has grown sharply, and its most important task consists in ensuring a solution of the acute food problem facing mankind.”
Since the dwindling availability of farmland forced China to become a net importer of food grain, it has mobilised the fishing industry to meet the rising demand for protein in the Chinese diet.
Consequently, China is today a “fishery superpower”, which owns the world’s largest deep-water fishing (DWF) fleet, with boats that stay at sea for months or even years.
For India too, fish, being an affordable and rich source of animal protein, is one of the healthiest options to mitigate hunger and malnutrition. Since Independence, India’s marine fishery has been dominated by the “artisanal sector” — poor, small-scale fishers who can afford only small sailboats or canoes to fish for subsistence.
India’s artisanal fishers deliver only 2 per cent of marine fish to the market, while 98 per cent is caught by mechanised and motorised craft. Having commenced as a purely traditional activity, India’s fisheries are being transformed into a commercial enterprise. The sector has shown steady growth and has become a major contributor of foreign exchange:
India ranks amongst the world’s leading seafood exporting nations. Fisheries provide livelihood to about 15 million fishers and fish-farmers at the primary level, and generates almost twice the number of jobs, along the value-chain — in transportation, cold-storages, and marketing.
These figures could have been much higher had India invested in a deep water fleet. Since Indian trawlers do not venture into rich fishing grounds, most of the fishing is being undertaken in coastal waters and our fishermen have to compete with those of neighbours, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in restricted fishing grounds.
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana
Moreover, the rich resources in India’s EEZ remain underexploited and much of the catch from our fishing grounds is taken away by the better equipped fishing fleets of other Indo-Pacific countries; some of them indulging in illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. IUU also has serious security and environmental implications.
Currently, most of India’s fisheries exports are at a low level of value addition — in frozen and chilled form — without going for higher-order “ready-to-eat” or “ready-to-cook” marine products. As in many other sectors of the maritime domain, India needs to evolve a long-term vision for its fishing industry
- Mechanisation and modernisation of fishing vessels by providing communication links and electronic fish-detection devices, with artisanal fishers being funded for this;
- developing deep-water fishing fleets, with bigger, sea-going trawlers equipped with refrigeration facilities;
- a DWF fleet will have to be built around the “mother ship” concept, wherein a large vessel would accompany the fleet to provide fuel, medical and on-board preservation/processing facilities;
- development of modern fishing harbours with adequate berthing and post-harvest facilities, including cold storage, preservation, and packaging of fish.
In September 2020, the government had announced the launch of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, a flagship scheme for sustainable development of India’s fisheries sector with an estimated investment of Rs 20,000 crores over the next five years. Let us hope that it is implemented as efficiently as the Chinese.
Conclusion
China's fleet has been accused of overfishing, which means catching more fish than the ecosystem can replenish. This can lead to the depletion of fish stocks and negatively impact the entire marine ecosystem.
China's fleet has been accused of using destructive fishing methods, such as bottom trawling, which can damage the seafloor and destroy the habitats of other marine species.
The modus operandi of China's deep-sea fishing fleet involves exploiting weak regulations and oversight in various regions to carry out IUU fishing activities. They often use large industrial-scale fishing vessels equipped with advanced technology to locate and catch fish.
The activities of China's deep-sea fishing fleet are serious because they threaten the sustainability of fish stocks, which can impact the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fishing. IUU fishing activities can also lead to conflicts between countries and damage international relations.
To stop China's fleet from overfishing, there needs to be stricter regulation and enforcement of existing fishing laws and regulations. This includes monitoring and surveillance of fishing vessels, increasing penalties for IUU fishing, and collaborating with other countries to ensure that regulations are enforced across different regions. Additionally, there needs to be greater transparency in the fishing industry, including the disclosure of vessel identities, fishing activities, and catch data. This will help to deter IUU fishing activities and promote sustainable fishing practices.
Stopping illegal fishing in the deep oceans requires a multi-faceted approach that involves improving regulation, enforcement, and public awareness, as well as promoting sustainable fishing practices and international cooperation.
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BRIG Hemant Mahajan
Passionate writer on National Security related issues, Brig Hemant Mahajan YSM (Retd) is M Sc, M Phil in Defence Studies. He joined IMA Dehradun in July 1973 and passed out as a Commissioned Officer on 15 June 1975. He was commissioned into 7 MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY. He has served extensively in Counter Insurgency Operations in Insurgency and Terrorist prone areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and North East and has taken part in all important operations undertaken by the Army since 1975.
Brig Hemant Mahajan served in Jammu & Kashmir, in the deserts of Rajasthan, in Super High Altitude areas of Kargil and Leh, forward areas of Arunachal Pradesh. He was deployed in Punjab in ‘Operation Avert’. He was also involved in maintaining peace post ‘Operation Bluestar’ days in Punjab in the worst affected district of Gurdaspur, Taran Taran and Amritsar.He served in the areas of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Siliguri and Sikkim. He commanded his battalion 7 MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY in Operation Rakshak in the most difficult areas of Poonch and Rajouri during the times of highest militancy. His unit was responsible for stopping terrorists from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir. His unit was awarded Unit Citation, 18 gallantry awards including YSM (gallantry) for the officer.