China is constantly breaking international laws that protect world fisheries and are a serious planetary environmental problem. When Asian-flagged vessels approach the protected coasts of Latin America or Africa, they immediately turn off their position transmitters, thus hiding them from marine monitoring systems. Usually these are huge fleets of hundreds of ships each. This illegal fishing developed by china Not only does it cause millions of dollars in damage each year, it also puts the food security of developing countries at risk, which has already been greatly reduced by climate change.
Illegal fishing, despite being punished, remains a common practice in the marine area. Between 11 and 26 million tons of fish are caught illegally in the world every year, which causes a loss of 10,000 to 23,500 million dollars per year to the world economy.. Globally, illegally caught fish represent between 13% and 31% of the total reported production of fishery products. In some regions, this figure can even reach 40%.
This practice is against the rules of fishing enterprises that impose the obligation to declare and regulate their catches. It has its own acronym: Illegal, Undeclared and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing. A recent study by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) reveals that the main person responsible for this illegal practice is China.
The situation is such that warships from various South American countries had to open fire on these national fishing boats that occupied their territorial waters, and even sank some of these boats.
Although there are other countries that act in the same way, the majority of the ships participating in this practice come from the Asian country. More than half (54.7%) of IUU fishing is carried out by industrial and semi-industrial vessels flying the Asian flag, of which 61% are from the People’s Republic of China.. This contrasts with the rest of the continents, as only 16.1%, 13.5% and 12.8% of vessels from Latin America, Africa and European countries were found to be engaging in illegal practices, respectively.
The top 10 companies involved in illegal fishing are responsible for almost a quarter of all reported cases: eight from China, one from Colombia and one from Spain.
Africa most affected
Africa has the most to lose in this battle for ocean resources. Almost 50% of such intrusions occur on the African coast, which means 11,400 million euros are lost on the continent each year.. The fishing industry directly employs around 820 million people across the planet, most of whom are women and a quarter of jobs in West African countries are related to fishing.
But the problem of the African continent goes even further. The richest countries benefit from the rich resources that Africa has. After looting oil and minerals, they are now exerting quieter pressure to deplete their fishing resources. The losers are the citizens of these poor countries, who once again face serious problems in ensuring food security in the short and long term.
Argentina is the second most affected region by illegal fishing. Losses in terms of capture in the Latin American country amount to approximately 3 billion 600 million euros. Chile estimates its losses at 397 million per year, and Indonesia at 4,000 million. Despite their remoteness, all these places have one thing in common: great marine diversity.
food insecurity
The problem is not just losses. First of all, these practices do not respect the breeding time of fish or the limitations of preventing certain species from being caught at certain times. Therefore, they result in a reduction in the number of samples available in the next capture campaign.
According to UN estimates, 90% of fishing resources are already “exploited, overused or depleted” on the planetTherefore, the more pressure illegal fishing puts on, the harder it will be to get it to recover. And countries have regulations to control fisheries to allow nature to take its own course, precisely to prevent species extinction and support their reproduction. However, such activities do not take into account any regulation of these countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (ZEE).
According to the WWF, illegal fishing is one of the main causes of marine ecosystem destruction. Also, this app ‘most lucrative’ crime against natural resources after logging and miningWith a value of up to 23.5 billion euros, it represents one-fifth of the world’s catches.
A profitable and opaque business
Not only is it lucrative, but as the report explains, To commit this crime is somewhat simple.. Although the companies behind these ships have been identified, many continue to operate with “total impunity”, thanks to their hiding behind “complex business structures” and often using tax havens like the Cayman Islands.
Added to this is the lack of strict controls to penalize these practices. And, according to the report in question, almost no country requests information about the owners of the ship during the license application or the ship registration. Then, those responsible for such acts will never be punished. In fact, fines are usually given directly to the captains and crews of the ships that commit the crime, even if they are instigated by their bosses.
It should be noted that 60% of what we eat in Europe comes from these non-EU countries, making the European Union the world’s leading importer of fisheries products. Thailand, Cambodia, and many other countries in Asia or Africa are major exporters of fish, but Europe does not have adequate control over their fleets and catches. The EU has established a penalty system based on warning cards (yellow and/or red “cards” leading up to a complete ban on trade with Europe) for these non-EU countries to be involved in the control of illegal fishing in their home countries. countries, regions and fleets.
Neither the United States nor Japan have as extensive controls as Europe.This makes the Old Continent a pioneer and supporter in the fight against illegal fishing. However, this struggle must be much broader and more global. In 2010, a regulation was created that made this success of Europe possible. The ‘Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fisheries Regulation’ (IUU) has proven to be a powerful tool in preventing illegally caught fish from entering the EU. It is the most ambitious legislation of its kind following the global goal of preventing illegal fishing, but as it has been proven, it is impossible to stop these illegal practices without international cooperation.
The full reference report is at this link.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]