CHINA’S FISHING FLEET

ASHLEY CHRISTIAN
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................................1
China Fishing Fleet in Africa..........................................................................................................1
Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
China’s Growing Influence in Africa..........................................................................................3
China’s economic impact............................................................................................................4
Commerce/ Trade in goods and services.....................................................................................5
Legitimacy/influence on politics.................................................................................................6
China's investment in Africa & US.............................................................................................7
Africa's Reaction to China's Involvement...................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2..................................................................................................................................10
Controversies Over China’s Fleeting Fish in Africa.....................................................................10
Fishing in Africa........................................................................................................................10
China's Illegal Fishing Across the Globe...................................................................................15
CHAPTER 3..................................................................................................................................19
Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in the South China Sea...............................................19
Fishing.......................................................................................................................................20
Overfishing................................................................................................................................21
Harm Induced............................................................................................................................22
Conflict/Disagreement...............................................................................................................22
Implications/Ramifications of China’s Fishing Activities........................................................24
The "South Sea" Behaviours and Responses.............................................................................25
A Path Forward..........................................................................................................................26
Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in United Nations Discussions...............................28
Fishery as a Business.................................................................................................................28
China..........................................................................................................................................28
China’s Fishing Fleet Globally..................................................................................................29
Distant Water Fishing Fleet.......................................................................................................31
China’s Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing..............................................................33
Operational Enforcement /Instrument.......................................................................................34
CHAPTER 4..................................................................................................................................37
Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in Iran and Pakistan....................................................37

1
 Introduction: Iran and Pakistan..................................................................................................37
Iran's Overfishing Problem........................................................................................................39
Iran's Corruption/Misconduct....................................................................................................40
The IRGC...................................................................................................................................41
China’s Fishing Fleet in Pakistan..............................................................................................42
Chinese Trawlers Apprehended in Pakistan for Illegal/Illicit Fishing;.....................................43
Ways Forward............................................................................................................................44

CHAPTER 1

China Fishing Fleet in Africa

Introduction
1
As the continent represents one of the ultimate frontiers of the fourth industrial revolution,

Africa has become the world's fastest highly urbanized region, with rural migrants moving into
1
https://www.forbes.com/

2
cities at a rate that has even eclipsed that of China and India. This rapid shift poses significant

challenges, but it also presents significant opportunities for countries prepared to invest billions

in an infrastructure-building revolution far beyond anything the world has ever seen – and no

country has responded to Africa's challenge very much like China. China has also become a key

role in Africa's 2urbanization push, with Chinese businesses driving and/or supporting a large

portion of the continent's infrastructure projects.

China has had diplomatic contacts with Africa since the 15th century. A wall mural of a giraffe

may be found in the Ming Imperial Tomb in Beijing; it was presented to the court in Nanjing by

the famed Chinese admiral and seafarer Zheng He on one of numerous journeys to the Arab

world and the east coast of Africa between 1413 and 1419. After Sun Yat-sen was elected

Provisional President of the Young Republic of China in 1911, official connections with African

Countries like South Africa were established. China began a more active campaign of building

contacts in Africa as the communist leadership solidified its grip on power in the early 1950s.

Also , In April 1955, 29 leaders from African and Asian political parties gathered in Bandung,

Indonesia, under the shadow of the Cold War. They talked about peace, economic development,

and decolonization, and they pledged to boost collaboration between the peoples of the "third

world," as China's then-leader Mao Zedong introduced the concept. Despite the fact that China

was undeveloped at the time, it provided substantial support to developing African countries.

China is becoming a more 3significant economic force in Africa. Chinese investments in Africa

cover a wide range of industries and are not limited to the Chinese government or huge state-

owned enterprises. A number of private Chinese enterprises have also made significant

2
https://more-architecture.com/publications/
3
https://www.researchgate.net/

3
investments in Africa. For example, Huawei, a renowned global telecom services provider based

in China, has spent USD1.5 billion in Africa and employs 4000 people.

4
China's commerce with Africa has risen consistently over the last decade, from USD9 billion in

2000 to USD160 billion in 2011. China's part of total African trade has increased dramatically,

from 3% a decade ago to 13% . China's growing interest in Africa has been fueled by a desire for

Africa's natural riches to help it maintain its fast rise. China currently imports a third of its oil

from Africa, and some of its investments are dependent on resource extraction. Angola, for

example, has traded its oil for infrastructure development. Chinese interests in the region,

however, extend beyond oil and other natural commodities.

Many have questioned the nature of China's engagement in Africa's commerce, investment, and

aid as a result of its rise to prominence. Critics claim China is just focused in resources, that its

exports to Africa endanger indigenous businesses, and that it is substituting Africa's old partners,

such as the US. China is a major consumer of commodities and has a vested attention in the

development of Africa's natural resources, but it isn't only looking for them. Furthermore, the

negative effects of China's expanded exports on Africa, both in domestic and international

markets, tend to be limited to specific industries like clothing. Given their divergent priorities

and tactics, China and the US can embrace each other in certain areas. Africa stands to gain a lot

if it utilizes its clout wisely.

China’s Growing Influence in Africa

5
The United States and the European Union (EU) continue to be Africa's most important trade,

investment, and aid partners, 6China has grown in prominence in Africa over the last decade.

4
https://blogs.afdb.org/fr
5
https://carnegieendowment.org/?lang=en
6
https://lookeast.in/is-china-building-africa/

4
During 1998 and 2010, Africa's goods exports to China climbed more than 60-fold, compared to

a five-fold and three-fold increase in the United States and the European Union, correspondingly.

As a result, China's proportion of African exports has risen from less than 1% to nearly 15% in

just a decade. Although this EU's proportion of African exports fell from roughly 36% to 23%,

the United States' share climbed marginally.

Following the massive and rapid expansion of bilateral trade and foreign direct investment (FDI)

across the continent, China has surpassed the United States as Africa's most important economic

partner. In 2019, trade between China and Africa totaled 7$192 billion, and annual FDI flows to

Africa have surpassed those to the United States since 2014. 8Chinese State-Owned Enterprises

(SOEs) have ventured on large infrastructure projects to create dams, railways, ports, and

telecommunication systems in order to set up manufacturing and natural resource extraction

centres across the continent. Best known is China’s infamous Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

which interconnects Africa to Southeast Asia and Europe in effort to grow maritime trade across

a variety of numerous development projects and infrastructure. The BRI strategy is primarily

aimed at better penetrating European markets (basically the European Union), which are China's

largest export destination.

In addition to its commercial and investment activities, China is a major donor of international

aid to Africa. The amount of Chinese aid isn't publicized, but according to some 9evaluations,

China's concessional loans to Africa increased from10 $800 million in 2005 to $10 billion in

2009. In comparison, since 2006, the World Bank has recorded $4.5 billion in yearly lending to

Africa.

7
http://www.sais-cari.org/data-china-africa-trade
8
https://www.ft.com/content/9f5736d8-14e1-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e
9
http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Deborah_Brautigam_Testimony.pdf
10
http://www.american.edu/sis/faculty/upload/Brautigam-Chinese-Aid-in-Africa.pdf

5
  China’s presence/impact in Africa

There's no denying that China's presence in Africa has a big impact on the region, from 11

infrastructure development to trading /commerce, film, and education.

China’s economic impact

Based on this common viewpoint, a number of empirical studies on the influence of trade on

African countries' economic growth have been conducted. The People's Republic of China's

economic contacts with Africa were guided by ideological precepts till the late 1970s. Economic

links with Africa are now seen by China's political leadership as a means of achieving the

country's growth targets. China has risen to become Africa's largest bilateral trading partner,

largest bilateral lender, and one of the continent's largest foreign investors in just a few decades.

Almost all African markets have been penetrated by Chinese enterprises. There are around 1,000

of these operating in Africa now, with over one million people of Chinese heritage living there.

Almost all of these Chinese businesses in Africa are privately held, while others are entirely or

partially government-owned. Within this environment, Chinese enterprises have significant

freedom to operate in Africa on market terms, as well as access to favorable Chinese investment

financing. 12China is currently Africa's largest trading partner, with annual trade between the two

countries exceeding $200 billion.

13 14
According to McKinsey, there are over 10,000 Chinese-

owned businesses operating across Africa, with a total value of over $2 trillion in Chinese

11
https://m.dw.com/en/building-africa-can-europes-construction-firms-compete-with-chinas/a-52435595
12
https://doc-research.org/2018/09/chinas-approach-to-africa/
13
https://www.sais-cari.org/data-china-africa-trade
14
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/the-closest-look-yet-at-chinese-economic-
engagement-in-africa

6
business in Africa since 2005 and $300 billion in investment now 15 on the table. Africa has also

surpassed Asia as China's most important 16overseas construction market.

Commerce/ Trade in goods and services.

Economists and experts from all around the world have debated whether trade supports

economic growth for decades. On a theoretical level, certain analyses have shown that trade

stimulates economic growth by allowing science and technology to spread through the import of

technological items. As trade relations between developing nations have grown, the China-Africa

trade and economic growth relation has gotten even more attention. However, with regards to
17
Ademola et al., studies on whether China-Africa trade boosts growth in the economy in Africa

countries remain one of the most difficult questions in the economic literature.

In the 1990s, China's trade with Africa was minimal, but it began to grow significantly from

2005. In 2019, Chinese exports to Africa were USD 113 billion, while imports from Africa

averaged over USD 78 billion. Moreover, China's exports to North Africa ( which includes

Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) totaled USD 27 billion in 2019, accounting for

23.8 percent of the continent's overall, whereas imports from North Africa amounted USD 7

billion. As a result, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than two-thirds of Chinese commerce

with Africa. China does business with practically all of Africa's 53 countries.

Legitimacy/influence on politics
18
China's leadership believes that improving Sino-African relations will help China's worldwide

influence grow. The majority of African nations have expressed support for Beijing's "One

China" policy, which is a precondition for receiving Chinese aid and investment. Also, China has
15
http://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/
16
https://lookeast.in/is-china-building-africa/
17
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440211064899#
18
https://www.rand.org/

7
sought a more positive role in the region as a contributor to regional stability, in part to minimize

security-related challenges to its economic interests.

Other goals, which are thought to guide the Chinese government, are frequently mentioned in the

literature on China's political operations in Africa. [25] One example is the diplomatic isolation

of the democratic Republic of China (Taiwan) by convincing African countries to cut ties with

the country. Another goal is to change people's perceptions of Hong Kong. These are some of

China's fundamental objectives in partnering with African countries, which include achieving

conformity with China's future geopolitical ambitions. China appears to have a strong desire to

sway political figures in Africa and other developing countries, whether or not this means

adopting its own economic model. Since Xi Jinping was elected president for a de facto

indefinite term in 2018, the authoritarian perspective of the CPC has gained traction.

19
Furthermore, at a period when Beijing were ostracized by the West, African leaders continued

to visit China on official visits. This phase led to the practice of the Chinese foreign minister

making his first trip of the new year to African countries, which has been in force since 1990. As

a result of these visits, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has held regular

summit sessions since 2000 to "take on the responsibility of globalization" and assist China and

Africa "grow jointly."

On the international level, China continues to profit from African assistance.;

 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),

 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),

 the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the

19
https://thediplomat.com/

8
  International Telecommunication Union are all led by Chinese citizens (ITU). It is

the only country in history to have held multiple directorates at the same time.

China's investment in Africa & US

China, like many other countries, is keenly interested in Africa's resources. For instance, roughly

a quarter of China's total crude oil imports come from Sub-Saharan Africa, and crude oil

accounts for more than two-thirds of Africa's exports to China.

China's investment touches practically every country on the African continent. Since 2003,

resource-rich economies have received only 37% of China's FDI inflows to Africa on average.

The Chinese have made considerable investments in manufacturing and developed industrial

zones in non-resource-rich economies – for example Zambia and Tanzania, producing

pharmaceuticals and tires. Chinese FDI(Foreign Direct Investment) to Africa summed up to USD

44 billion in 2019, accounting for 2% of total Chinese FDI. The United States invested USD 78

billion in Africa in total, making it the continent's largest investor. FDI from the United States to

Africa, on the other hand, only accounted for 0.7 percent of the country's total outbound FDI.

With USD 65 billion, the United Kingdom was the second largest investor in Africa, trailing

France by USD 53 billion. FDI to Africa accounts for 3% of the total investment in the United

Kingdom and France. As a result, while Chinese investments have risen in recent years, the

overall picture cannot be described as exceptional. 20Although Chinese FDI to Africa may not

appear to be particularly significant, Chinese contract revenues in Africa are significant.

Following Johns Hopkins University research, African markets account for roughly 30% of

Chinese foreign building contract revenue.

20
https://www.orfonline.org/research/china-in-africa/?amp#_edn11

9
Africa's Reaction to China's Involvement

African authorities are unanimously favourable about China's participation in Africa, praising the

country's concentration on government-to-government contracts with only a few, if any,

conditions. Many African leaders feel China has more humanitarian objectives than Western

governments and corporations since it is a fellow developing nation. African leaders laud China's

charitable donations to their countries' infrastructure, praising visible improvements that result in

increased economic activity, local job creation, and quantifiable developments to roads, rails,

bridges, and other transport networks — all of which benefit regular citizens, albeit adversely.

But even so, some Africans are critical of China's involvement. Chinese firms are being chastised

by labour unions, civil society organizations, and other parts of African society for bad working

conditions, unsustainable sustainability initiatives, and job outsourcing.

Finally,

Notwithstanding the hurdles and possible dangers involved with China's engagement with

Africa, Sino-Africa collaborations play an essential role in encouraging African countries'

growth and development; 21Included are the building of much-needed physical infrastructure as

well as investments that have resulted in the creation of thousands of employment in mining,

construction, and other sectors .China's contribution to Africa's transition would be catalysed by

economic diversification based on high efficiency through skills and technology transfer. As a

result, the infrastructure boom brought on by Chinese investment opens up new potential for

Africa's economic transformation.

21
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt6wq7ss.10

10
 CHAPTER 2

Controversies Over China’s Fleeting Fish in Africa

Fishing in Africa

The large-scale and small-scale sectors of African fishing can be split somewhat plainly.

Although some fish captured by local small-scale fishers is traded regionally, such as the dried or

smoked fish from Senegal that is sold throughout West and Central Africa, the small-scale

industry, characterised by artisanal fishing practices, is mostly conducted by Africans to supply

local markets. Small-scale fishing employs many Africans who work in the fish processing and

trading industries. An estimated 12 million people are working in the fishing industry, either full-

time or part-time, seasonally. While men are more likely to go fishing, women might make up

11
the majority of those working in the post-harvest sector, which is why the fishing business is

essential to women.

Although per capita fish intake in Africa is highly inconsistent, at least 200 million Africans eat

fish on a regular basis. Unfortunately, fish intake per capita is declining in many African

countries. This is the only continent where this is taking place. Meanwhile, chronic malnutrition

rates across the continent continue to be high. For millions of Africans, particularly in rural

regions, dried or smoked sea fish, such as sardines and mackerel, has long been a staple diet.

Approximately 1.7 million tons of fish were captured off the coast of West Africa in the early

2000s, accounting for the bulk of fish consumption in 2012, which was projected to be a little

over 10 kg per person. Despite this, catches have been steadily declining since then due to both

overfishing and climate change. Meanwhile, foreign commercial firms that previously sold to

African markets like Nigeria are increasingly exporting to China. As a result, Africa's per capita

fish intake is decreasing.22

China's fishing fleet has expanded to become the world's largest by far, and it has gotten more

extreme, creating problems throughout the world.

Millions of tons of seafood are brought each year to feed the country's growing middle class. The

fleet has been accused of illegal fishing by foreign governments, fishers, and conservation

groups, including utilising restricted equipment and crossing into foreign territory. This fishing

has thrown local economies into disarray and put ecosystems at jeopardy.23 24

22
https://africacenter.org/publication/criminality-africa-fishing-industry-threat-human-security/
23
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/chinas-fishing-fleet-the-worlds-largest-drives-beijings-global-ambitions-
11619015507
24
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32817193

12
The increased presence of Chinese industrial fleets fishing in the EEZs of West and East Africa

has been widely attributed to China's food security concerns, subsidies for ship construction,

modernisation, and fuel, and the state's geopolitical ambitions, particularly the Maritime Silk

Road Initiative. This obscures the true reasons and modalities of fisher expansions, the

motivations of African fishers working with Chinese ships, and their transoceanic networks

connecting them with African fishers, Chinese diasporic populations, and local fishing grounds. 25

Chinese trawlers have been using bad governance, corruption, and the governments' failure to

enforce fishing restrictions in Ghana, Nigeria, and other regions of Africa for years. Today,

Chinese vessels primarily operate outside of official authority, resulting in an increasingly

significant environmental catastrophe caused by Overfishing, which also puts local coastal

communities in jeopardy.26

China's population consumes more than a third of all fish consumed worldwide, making it not

just the world's largest seafood exporter. The total size of China's global fishing fleet is estimated

to be billions of dollars. According to some estimates, China has between 200,000 and 800,000

fishing vessels, accounting for approximately half of all global fishing activity. The Chinese

government claims that its distant-water fishing fleet, or vessels that travel far from China's

coast, number around 2,600. In comparison, the US remote water fishing fleet consists of less

than 300 boats.27 28

25
https://www.uib.no/en/globalchallenges/143912/troubled-waters-%E2%80%93-chinese-fishing-fleets-african-
shores
26
https://chinaafricaproject.com/podcasts/out-of-control-chinas-distant-fishing-fleet-in-west-africa/
27
https://odi.org/en/publications/chinas-distant-water-fishing-fleet-scale-impact-and-governance/
28
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-chinas-expanding-fishing-fleet-is-depleting-worlds-oceans

13
According to VOA reporting, China possesses the world's largest distant-water fishing fleet,

which it plans to cap at 3,000 vessels. The Greenpeace research claims that China's long-distance

fishing fleet is ten times the size of America's, with nearly 2,000 vessels.29

However, according to a US Coast Guard assessment, the People's Armed Forces Maritime

Militia has an extra fleet of 3,000 ships that intensively conducts provocative activity on the high

seas and in territorial waters of other countries in pursuit of China's maritime objectives. 30 A

British research organisation believes that China's total fleet size is nearly 17,000 warships.

According to a United Nations statistic, 93 per cent of the world's marine fish populations are

overused, overexploited, or considerably decreased.

The extent of China's overall investment in Africa is frequently overestimated, owing to the

country's dominance in the material goods trade. China has less than half the total foreign direct

investment (FDI) as the United Kingdom, United States and France, according to the World

Economic Forum. Chinese investment in Africa is far outpacing that of any other country. 31 The

looting of Africa's shoreline is simply a continuation of centuries of natural resource exploitation

on the continent. Subsidised European Union (EU) and Chinese fishing fleets have cornered one

of the world's most pristine, wildlife-rich waters, wiping out innumerable fish species and killing

thousands of dolphins and whales in the process.

Along with Japan and China, the EU is one of the top three fisheries subsidisers in the world.

29
https://qz.com/africa/842381/photos-chinese-fishing-fleets-are-dominating-and-potentially-depleting-west-africas-
seas/amp/
30
https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/Images/iuu/IUU_Strategic_Outlook_2020_Final.pdf
31
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-01-07-over-exploitation-of-africas-fisheries-not-enough-fish-in-the-
sea/

14
Massive government subsidies to a sector keep costs artificially low, making it impossible for

local businesses to compete. Long accused of 'plundering' Africa for its oil, precious metals, and

endangered species - rhinos, elephants, and lions – China is by far the largest offender of illicit

fishing, raiding the continent's seas with its massive armada of super trawlers. These industrial

trawlers can have a massive impact, collecting more than 12,000 tons of fish every week - more

than twice the sustainable catch for countries like Liberia, Mauritania, and The Gambia.

Chinese boats have been pushing further out to sea in recent years to exploit the remote waters of

other countries, particularly along the West African coast, after exhausting the depleting deposits

in the South China Seas. "China is exporting to Africa the kinds of damaging fishing techniques

that have destroyed local fishing grounds off China's coast," said Rashid Kang, director of

Greenpeace's China Ocean and Forests campaign. "At a time when China is talking about win-

win collaborations with African nations and trying to improve its worldwide image, these kinds

of practices harm marine resources, endanger local livelihoods, and undermine China's soft

power."32

Chinese interest in the waters off West Africa has risen dramatically in recent years, owing to a

massive expansion of the country's industrial fishing fleet, increased competition, and dwindling

marine life stocks in China's coastal waters. Government incentives have pushed several long-

distance fishing enterprises to venture further away. Local fishermen have been displaced, and

the region's once-abundant fishery has been decimated. China's internal and national policies will

become highly prevalent for countries doing business with it as it becomes a more vital partner

for many African countries. After depleting the seas near home, China's fishing fleet in Africa

has been venturing further which has made it very easy in recent years to utilise the waters of

32
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/world/asia/china-west-africa-fishing-greenpeace.html

15
several other countries, including those in West Africa, where regulation is weaker due to a lack

of resources or willingness by the government to police their waters. Most Chinese long-range

ships are so enormous that they can capture as many fish in a week as small Senegalese or

Mexican boats might catch in a year.

These African leaders have yet to grasp the implications for their people and countries in the

long run. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Founder and Environmental activist Captain Paul

Watson, has cautioned that the chaos in West African waters will have severe consequences for

the entire globe.

“We're depleting the sea's living resources. Marine ecosystems are disintegrating, and oceanic

ecosystems will be unable to maintain life on this planet as a result.”

“What this tremendous die-off signifies for the future, just as the scenario in Somalian waters, is

a rise in piracy by poor African fishermen,' he said. In these impacted countries, it will mean an

increase in poverty and malnutrition, as well as societal turmoil and possibly violent

revolution.”33

"Without improvements in regional fishery management and the performance of industry fishing

vessels, particularly Chinese and EU vessels, depletion of West Africa's ocean will only be a

matter of time," said Greenpeace researcher Wenjing Pan. "Local fishermen will confront

significant difficulty earning a living once the fish and fishing giants have both vanished."34

33
https://www.newsafrica.net/sections/international/china-stealing-africa-s-fish
34
https://qz.com/africa/842381/photos-chinese-fishing-fleets-are-dominating-and-potentially-depleting-west-africas-
seas/amp/

16
Hundreds of Chinese trawlers, prepared to fish at all depths, are reportedly venturing daily into

Ghana's sovereign seas from their deep-sea licensing remits, pursuing shallow-dwelling fish that

was once a local preserve, according to fishermen in the West African republic of Ghana.35

"We all owe loans since the trawlers reduced our fish stocks at a rapid rate," Kojo Panyin, a 53-

year-old fisherman in Axim, a Ghanaian fishing hamlet, said.

He further claims that such fishing ruins local fishermen's nets.

In Africa, China has long demonstrated that when it says "global," it means only its own global

aspirations; and when it says "responsibility," it means responsibility for China's future

dominance within society, not for the world community. As a result, defending Africa's fishing

areas from foreign "fish thieves" is a necessary prerequisite for Africa's environmental

credibility. Kenya, for example, has been targeting "fish thieves" with a new coast guard since

November 2018 and is leading the way.36

China's Illegal Fishing Across the Globe

The Chinese fleet has a notably negative influence on developing countries off the coast of West

Africa, where it often comprises the majority of vessels, if not all, and where Chinese front

companies might own the vast majority of locally registered vessels. For decades, China's inland

and near-shore fisheries have been in decline. Pollution, landfilling, and dams have all harmed

wetlands fisheries. Agricultural runoff, pollution from municipal and industrial waste, and

Overfishing have all contributed to the degradation of coastal fisheries, which result in toxic

algal blooms and extensive marine dead zones on a regular basis. Since the 1960s, China's

coastal waters and those of the South China Sea have seen a 90% decline in total fish biomass.

35
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2104127/chinas-fishing-fleet-drives-beijings-global-ambitions
36
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46266978

17
The Chinese government's efforts to safeguard the viability of its national fisheries, such as

months-long summer fishing moratoriums, have mostly failed to mitigate Overfishing's

devastating effects. "Numerous species have vanished from captures," according to the report.

Also, an increasing fraction of the catch is unfit for human consumption but beneficial for use as

fishmeal.

China is known for being the worst perpetrator in terms of illicit, unreported, and unregulated

fishing, particularly off the coasts of Africa and South America. It has been estimated that at

least ten per cent of China's distant-water fleet is engaged in such operations, while the true

proportion could be far higher. Chinese vessels committed more than one in every five fishing

charges worldwide from 2010 to 2019, according to Spyglass, a database of fishing offences.37

A report released from the Overseas Development Institute gives insight on the size, impact, and

governance of China's Distant Water Fishing (DWF) fleet. Nearly 1,000 Chinese DWF vessels

are registered in countries other than China, the majority of which – 518 in total – are in African

countries with limited monitoring and control capabilities.

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing was discovered on at least 183 vessels in

China's DWF fleet. Co-author and Research Associate at the Overseas Development Institute,

Miren Gutierrez, says: "China's distant water fishing (DWF) industry has exploded, making it

impossible to keep track of and control. Chinese DWF businesses are left to regulate and

negotiate access to developing coastal states' fisheries, particularly in west Africa. The European

37
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/03/12/how-chinas-fishing-fleet-is-devastating-ecosystems-harming-poor-countries-
and-contributing-to-conflict/

18
Union's aim of decreasing its fishing fleet and establishing greater control over its global

activities contrasts with this carelessness."38

At least 183 Chinese DWF vessels are suspected of being involved in illegal, unreported, and

unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to the study. The IUU Fishing Index, which considers

coastline, flag, and port state obligations, among other factors, ranks China as the worst-

performing country. It is difficult for developing countries to adequately monitor coastal waters,

according to Tabitha Mallory, an affiliate professor at the University of Washington who

specialises in Chinese foreign and environmental policy.39 40

"China fishes in countries like North Korea that lack the ability to effectively manage their

coastal waters." "she stated, "For developing countries, coast guard vessels and fuel for those

patrol vessels are typically prohibitively expensive."

The problem of IUU fishing in Africa has been thoroughly studied, and a number of remedies

have been suggested. Transshipments, lack of inspection of container-based shipments,

inadequate legal frameworks, poor technology, and a lack of political will were all criticised in a

2016 report by the Overseas Development Institute and Spanish research and journalism group

PorCausa, which used satellite tracking to monitor the methods and scale of the problem.

According to the analysis, improving and protecting Africa's fisheries may generate an additional

USD 3 billion (EUR 2.6 billion) in revenue and 300,000 jobs.41

38
https://odi.org/en/press/chinas-distant-water-fishing-fleet-is-more-than-five-times-larger-than-estimated-new-odi-
report/
39
https://www.voanews.com/amp/east-asia-pacific_chinas-fishing-fleet-growing-security-threat/6194395.html
40
https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3110537/how-chinas-vast-and-aggressive-
fishing-fleet
41
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/african-countries-fighting-back-against-illegal-
fishing

19
 CHAPTER 3

Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in the South China Sea.

The South China Sea is a Western Pacific Ocean marginal sea bordered on the north by the

South China coast (hence the name), on the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, on the east by

Taiwan's islands and the northwestern Philippines (primarily Luzon, Mindoro, and Palawan), and

on the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra, and the Bangka Islands. With its 3.477 million square

20
kilometers of surface area, It is one of the world's greatest resource-rich marine basins. It is home

to various ecosystems[2] with 3,000 kinds of fish and 600 types of coral reef, a diversity of

mangrove and seagrass species, and turtles and seabirds who use the islands for resting,

breeding, and wintering. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines all

share the waterways.

Because of its geopolitical and security entanglements, the South China Sea has been the focus

of heated debate in recent years. It is one of the world's most contested marine zones, with rival

territorial claims and ill-defined rights fueling more conflict between countries bordering the sea.

China is the only country that not only claims a large chunk of the waters (beyond what the

UNCLOS42(United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea)- places under its authority), but has

also engaged in a variety of operations on the various rocks, shoals, and reefs that dot these

waters. The littorals and the global community are extremely concerned about the security

implications of these actions.

Fishing

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the neighboring oceans

provide 15 to 56 percent of all animal protein consumed in Southeast Asia (depending on the

country). This abundance is reflected in the global economy. The South China Sea provides 12%

of the world's fish catch despite covering only 2.5 percent of the planet's ocean surface area.

According to Borton, the area is home to half of the world's 3.2 million registered fishing

vessels.

Millions of individuals in the ten littoral countries and territories rely on the South China Sea's

fisheries for food and employment. 43

Unabated fishing for decades has resulted in diminishing
42
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978012374473900415X
43
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/wildlife-south-china-sea-overfishing-threatens-collapse

21
fish stocks and given rise to one of the region's largest non-traditional security threats:

overfishing. As a result, food security in the densely populated region is jeopardized.

Fisheries are critical to China's food security because of its rapidly growing population. The rise

of the middle class, which has enormous spending power and increased domestic consumption,

has only exacerbated the demands. 44According to estimates, China's growing middle class will

account for 38% of world fish consumption by 203045, with local output surpassing demand. [16]

Regional fisheries in the South China Sea are expected to produce $100 billion every year,

sustaining the livelihoods of 3.7 million people, according to the report.

Overfishing in the East China Sea and the South China Sea is being driven by China's expanding

demand for fish-based feed, not simply fish for human consumption.

Overfishing

Overfishing and marine disputes are linked in many places across the world. The so-called "cod

war" between the United Kingdom and Iceland, which lasted nearly 20 years from the end of the

1950s, was one of the more prominent episodes. Until the United Kingdom and Iceland struck a

diplomatic accord in 1976, both countries' navies were deployed to protect competing fishermen.

Fish populations in China's coastal areas have been rapidly depleted due to overfishing, as well

as illicit and unregulated fishing. In its own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the country lost 46

half of the coastal wetlands, 57 percent of mangroves, and 80 percent of coral reefs, all of which

are critical for the spawning, nursing, and feeding of fish populations. China has extended its

fishing boats, dispatching them as far as Africa and South America, to meet the demand for its

44
https://www.chinausfocus.com/2022/index-page_id=1461.html
45
https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/12/18882045/
46
https://www.pnas.org/content/114/3/435.abstract

22
fisheries. China's boats have been captured fishing in Argentina's, Somalia's, and South Korea's

exclusive economic zones.47

Harm on the Ecosystem /Ecological Damage;

The territorial dispute in the South China Sea is not a faraway concern for Southeast Asia's 600

million inhabitants. China's actions are already having a negative impact on the region's maritime

ecosystems and livelihoods.

Placing geopolitics aside, Chinese exploitation of the South China Sea is endangering the

region's future by creating ecological, environmental, and economic harm.

Harm Induced
48
Fishermen are pushing out further and deeper into the sea, utilizing practices like cyanide 49 and

dynamite fishing, causing severe damage to marine life as fish populations near coastal areas

diminish and the Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) significantly declines 50 with time .To boost the

volume of each capture, methods such as dynamite blasting and cyanide poisoning kill or disable

a large number of fish at once. The coral reefs that serve as breeding places for stocks and are

essential in managing carbon dioxide levels in the ocean are also destroyed by dynamite blasts.

Cyanide, on the other hand, hastens the bleaching of coral reefs and can even kill them.

47
https://qz.com/948980/china-has-fished-itself-out-of-its-own-waters-so-chinese-fishermen-are-now-sticking-their-
rods-in-other-nations-seas/
48
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/
49
https://www.nytimes.com/
50
https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-south-china-sea-is-really-a-fishery-dispute/

23
Conflict/Disagreement

Inside China's self-determined nine-dash line, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and

Taiwan have competing territorial claims, while Indonesia, despite not being a claimant, has
51

fought Beijing for fishing rights in its exclusive economic region near the Natuna Islands.

 52
China's fishing fleet is by far the largest in the world, with up to 800,000 vessels, and

Chinese fishermen are recognized to have journeyed to faraway waters for their catches,

such as the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa or the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador.China

has been accused of using an armed fishing militia in the South China Sea to enforce its

broad sovereignty claims, which are contested by its neighbors, particularly Vietnam.

Discretely, a Chinese think tank, the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI), claims

that illegal fishing, particularly by Vietnamese fishermen, has "severely diminished

regional mutual trust-building and depicted a significant risk and struggle to maritime

cooperation, sustainability of fishery resources, and security of neighboring countries."

According to a 53report released from the SCSPI, Vietnam operates 9,000 fishing vessels in the

South China Sea and has engaged in fishing disputes with China, Indonesia, and Malaysia.The

Vietnamese government did not respond to requests for comment on the current report, but

Vietnamese media covered the government's efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and

unregulated (IUU) fishing, particularly after the European Commission declared a "yellow card"

warning against Vietnam's fishing violations in 2017.

 Philippines call/summon to remove massive fishing fleet: The Philippines' expert analysis

to the PCA(Permanent Court of Arbitration) also looked at the effects of Chinese

51
https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20180101-p57dcu
52
https://www.rfa.org/english
53
http://www.scspi.org/en/dtfx/vietnamese-illegal-fishing-and-maritime-conflicts-continue-2021#_ftn21

24
 development activity and overfishing on the region's fishing stocks. The Spratly Islands 54

are an important source of fish larvae that are distributed to other places, according to a

study[28] included in the Philippines' report. Healthy marine wildlife populations on the

Spratly Islands, for example, might help support fisheries in the western Philippines,

according to this study. Overexploitation of fisheries resources on the Spratly Islands, on

the other hand, have a detrimental effect on Philippine fish stocks and fisheries.

The 55
Philippines complained that China was infringing on its fishing rights near the

Scarborough Shoal and in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It also wanted a decision on

whether the 'nine-dash line' should be used as a form of maritime delimitation rather than the

UNCLOS guidelines. The PCA, in announcing the award in favor of the Philippines, made some

important points about the effect of Chinese actions on the South China Sea ecosystem. It

claimed that China's island-building and fishing activities infringed on the Philippines' EEZ

rights. It claimed that these activities were to blame for significant coral reef degradation, the

extinction of endangered species, a drop in fishing stocks, and disruption to the structural

integrity of the region's islands and reefs.

Implications/Ramifications of China’s Fishing Activities

The region's fisheries are on the verge of collapse due to China's aggressive fishing efforts. Its

encroachment on other countries' EEZs (which were designed to 56protect food security because

most fish stocks are within 200 miles of a shore) and expulsion of their fishing vessels from their

own waters threatens to jeopardize the procurement of a staple food for massive populations in

the region. The South China Sea is particularly significant for global seafood demand, since it

54
https://www.britannica.com/place/Spratly-Islands
55
https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/the-south-china-sea-arbitration-award-5-years-and-beyond/
56
https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/nsla/

25
accounts for 12% of global fish catches. Fish stocks, on the other hand, have declined by 5766-75

percent.

 Ecological/Environmental.

58
The environmental consequences of China's island-building are equally concerning. One-third

of the world's coral reefs were formerly found in the South China Sea, but nearly half have since

vanished.

The impacts of climate change are destroying coral reefs all around the world and declined

rapidly by 16 percent . China has exacerbated this damage in the South China Sea, as the PCA

noted in its judgement, by dredging up more than 100 square kilometers of thriving coral reefs to

artificially create the island.The climatic effects has induced rising sea temperatures and

acidification of the oceans, as well as changes in oxygen and carbon concentrations in the waters,

rendering marine life survival difficult. The South China Sea is one of three "epicentres" 59 that

have been identified as being particularly affected by this problem. 60Fish stocks are forced to

migrate northward into the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan as ocean temperatures rise. For

nations like Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, who lack the capacity to fish in

far-flung waters, this will make fishing more difficult.

The "South Sea" Behaviours and Responses

Decentralized and often inconsistent policies led by domestic interest groups at the regional level

might sabotage possible international solutions to shared challenges. SCS sustainability issues

are caused by a lack of effective international governance. The SCS lacks the multilateral

57
https://ocean.csis.org/
58
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/category/commentary
59
https://climateandsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/1_eroding-sovereignty.pdf
60
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/African_Great_Lakes

26
Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) that have been successful in managing

fisheries in other parts of the world. There are no bilateral or multilateral fishing agreements in

the SCS, unlike the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. UNCLOS also fails to offer effective

governance because the region's EEZs are still hotly contested. China has previously declared the

Permanent Court of Arbitration's verdict on the SCS EEZ disputes null and void, and debates

over regional borders are likely to continue indefinitely without Beijing's assistance.

China's numerous regional governance efforts encompass ongoing seasonal SCS fishing bans;

the administrative upgrade of Sansha city from a county to a prefecture-level city; the complete

overhaul of China's maritime bureaucracies into a new China State Oceanic Administration;

Hainan province's law that requires foreign fishermen to obtain State Council approval prior to

joining Chinese-claimed SCS waters; and, most recently, China's massive island nation of

Hainan.

Outweighing incentives to retain full, though not necessarily exclusive, access to disputed

fisheries in order to ensure jobs and food security harm China's sustainability initiatives. To

account for the unprofitability, China has shelled out billions in fuel subsidies since 2007 (as

reflected by declining CPUE values). Although subsidies keep the industry afloat and employ 14

million people, they have the unintended consequence of undercutting sustainability initiatives

by fudging market dynamics to allow fishermen to continue squeezing over-exploited fisheries.

Furthermore, China's domestic sovereignty narratives hinder attempts even more.

A Path Forward

In the South China Sea, sovereignty and sustainability must be distinguished. Claimants could

look into multilateral options under UNCLOS Section 197, which states that countries "shall"

work cooperatively as needed to develop "international norms, standards, and proposed methods

27
and processes... for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, taking into

consideration characteristic regional features." Even when "characteristic regional traits" involve

persistent sovereignty issues, such regional collaboration is necessary and important.

Finally,

61
Several Southeast Asian countries formed regional fisheries management groups in the South

China Sea. The Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC), the Southeast Asian Fisheries

Development Center (SEAFDEC), and the Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible

Fishing Practices are just a few of these organizations (RPOA). However, the majority of these

organizations either serve as advisors to policymakers or do assessments and research relevant to

fishery management. The majority of the agreements that allowed these organizations to be

formed are written in non-binding language. They only need voluntary compliance with the

requirements and rely on co-management and cooperation for execution, which is largely

lacking.

61
https://www.orfonline.org/?amp

28
Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in United Nations Discussions.
62
The United Nations, as the world's only truly universal global organization, has emerged as the

premier platform for addressing issues that cut across national borders and cannot be handled by

any single country operating alone. 63In the seven decades since its founding, the United Nations

added new issues, such as climate change, refugees, AIDS and the likes, to its original goals of

maintaining peace, defending human rights, building the system of international justice, and

fostering economic and social growth.

62
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues
63
https://library.unccd.int/Details/fullCatalogue/

29
Fishery as a Business

Fishing, a $401 billion worldwide sector, accounts for 20% of dietary protein for about half of

the world's population, and global fish consumption has been rising for nearly 60 years. Despite

this,64 93 percent of the world's fish stocks are fully fished, overexploited, or severely reduced,

and65 global climate change having a detrimental effect on stocks.

It is self-evident that long-term sustainability necessitates good management. The issue is that

fish move, thus for management to be genuinely effective, it must be performed consistently both

regionally and, in some cases, globally.

China

China's rise has been followed by negative environmental consequences, spanning from plastic

pollution and forest destruction to 66

emission levels of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

China's rise has had an impact on global fisheries as well.

In the Indo-Pacific, the fisheries industry has progressively evolved into a key geopolitical

problem. Around 61.4 million tonnes of the 84.4 million tonnes of fish 67caught in seas around

the world in 2018 came from the Indian and Pacific oceans. Despite the fact that fishing activity

differs by region, the depletion of fishery resources is an increasing problem worldwide. China,

which catches more fish than any other country, is a major contributor to the problem, not only

because of the size of its fleet and the volume of its catches, but also because of its fishing

practices, which include illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and, most

importantly, because of a fisheries policy that supplies its ecological issues while protecting its

64
https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/Images/iuu/IUU_Strategic_Outlook_2020_FINAL.pdf#page=17
65
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/02/climate-change-is-shrinking-essential-fisheries/
66
https://hongkongfp.com/2021/10/27/the-dragon-in-the-room-tackling-chinas-pollution-will-be-crucial-at-the-
cop26-climate-summit/
67
http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9229en/

30
own regional marine areas. Furthermore, China uses fishing to further its revisionist agenda and,

more extensively, its performance targets, signaling its willingness to use traditional economic

activity for geopolitical gain.

The specific issue of China's fisheries policy perpetuates the broader issue of world fish

population reduction, with one-third of all impacted species fished at unprecedented levels..........

China’s Fishing Fleet Globally

The 68largest fishing fleet in the world is in China. Beijing claims to send out roughly 2,600

vessels to fish all over the world, while some nautical experts estimate that the fleet is closer to

17,000 ships. There are only about 300 long-range ships in the US Navy. Chinese fishermen

have been fishing illegally on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea, 69
a fiercely

contested territory asserted by six countries, aided by hefty subsidies and at times protected by

armed coast guard cutters. China has become the world's largest squid producer by exploiting

these seas. Almost half of the catch is sold to Asian countries, Europe, and the United States.

Chinese ships70 made it to as far as Africa and 71 South America, where fisherman have been

known to discard their labelling flags in order to evade discovery. Ecuador condemned 20

Chinese fisherman to four years in jail in 2017 for collecting thousands of sharks, the major

ingredient in a Chinese delicacy, in the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which is protected by the

Ecuadorian government. Also, a massive Chinese fishing fleet, believed to number 72

350-400

vessels, patrolled the waters near the 73UNESCO World Heritage Site Galapagos Islands.

68
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-chinas-expanding-fishing-fleet-is-depleting-worlds-oceans
69
https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-is-the-south-china-sea-such-a-hotly-contested-region-143435
70
https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2013/11/curbing-chinas-massive-destructive-distant-water-fishing-fleet/.
71
https://taskandpurpose.com/analysis/china-fishing-boats-ecuador
72
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-19/how-china-is-plundering-the-worlds-oceans/12971422
73
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1/

31
.......According to the74 United Nations; fisheries are on the verge of extinction in which almost

all marine fish stocks are "completely fished, overexploited, or reduced. Since the 1980s, the

global fish catch has been dropping, coinciding with a rapid expansion of China's offshore

fishing fleet. This fleet destroys maritime habitats, damages developing countries, and causes

insecurity.

Challenges and Issues; The IUU threat posed by Chinese fishing tactics is truly distinct and

grave. China, for starters, has the world's largest fishing fleet. It also offers considerable

subsidies, which has fueled the rapid development of big, capable "far water" vessels competent

of harvesting massive numbers of fish in a single voyage, typically by dragging the ocean floor

with little regard for fish kind, age, or quantity restrictions. Chinese-flagged fishing vessels travel

the globe in pursuit of a catch, and are known for fishing in other countries' exclusive economic

zones(EEZs)75, particularly in impoverished countries.

Distant Water Fishing Fleet

76
Many of China's deep-sea vessels are bottom trawlers, which are prohibited in Chinese seas due

to the environmental damage caused by their nets dragging across the seafloor. More than a

quarter of all fish captured worldwide by this very damaging practice is caught by Chinese

vessels, including those from Hong Kong, where trawling is prohibited.

Other Chinese ships engage in disruptive behavior at a higher level in the water column. Long-

liners, for example, target tuna and sharks but also mistakenly catch seabirds and marine

mammals. Much of China's squid catch is illegally caught utilizing wasteful and environmentally

hazardous practices, such as catching several species that aren't the fishermen's targets and

74
https://unctad.org/news/90-fish-stocks-are-used-fisheries-subsidies-must-stop
75
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/eez.html
76
https://hongkongfp.com/

32
discarded overboard dead. China formally implemented sanctions on North Korea in
77

accordance with a United Nations decision, including a restriction on seafood exports. Seafood,

especially squid, is one of North Korea's few big foreign-exchange earners, and the sanctions

were expected to put more pressure on the country.

Hundreds of foreign-flagged jiggers scoop up vast amounts of shortfin squid in one of the

world's largest unregulated fishing grounds every Austral summer, between November and

March, on the opposite side of South America.

According to satellite data examined by, a marine intelligence agency, a total of 523 primarily

Chinese fishing vessels were discovered close beyond the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic

zone of Argentina between November 2020 and May 2021, which is a 35 percent increase over

the previous season. 42 percent of those surveyed switched their safety transponders off at least

once. Meanwhile, 188 of the same ships appeared near the Galapagos Islands, including 14

Chinese ships that were down for an aggregate of 34 hours in both seas.

Large ships are projected to use what's known as an automatic identification system, or AIS, to

avoid collisions under a United Nations maritime convention to which China is a signatory.

Switching it off, unless there is an immediate threat, such as hiding from pirates, is a significant

infringement that should result in fines for the vessel and its owner under the laws of the country

in which it is flagged.

China, on the other hand, appears to have done little to rein in its far-flung maritime fleet up to

this point.

77
https://foreignpolicy.com/

33
China's distant-water fishing fleet has been utilized for territorial and military expansion in

addition to catching fish. China "has geopolitical motives for establishing a global fishing

presence. China’s fishing strength contributes to the country's worldwide sea power, giving it

more clout in the global system."

China 78acknowledges that its distant-water fishing vessels are "pseudo-military equipment," and

its fishermen operate as a "maritime militia." "Basic military training" and training in

"safeguarding Chinese sovereignty" are offered to Chinese fishermen. Armed fishing boats are

frequently used to harass foreign vessels and enforce China's control over disputed areas, such as

the waters surrounding the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. This is particularly visible in the 79
South

China Sea, where China's massive territorial claims have been vigorously guarded by both the

Chinese Coast Guard and fishing vessels.

China’s Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has been one of the global challenges that has

cast a pall over the sustainable growth of marine fisheries in recent decades 80. The following are

some of the most common IUU fishing practices, according to the FAO:

1. Illegal fishing: operations carried out by foreign or domestic vessels fishing in waters

under the legal limits without the approval of the receiving Country, or activities carried

out by vessels of participating countries of a regional fisheries management organization

(RFMO) that have infringed the organization's management and conservation measures

or appropriate international legal provisions;

78
https://www.jstor.org/stable/
79
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/25/world/asia/claims-south-china-sea.html
80
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468550X20300216#bib37

34
 2. Unreported fishing: fishing operations that have not been reported to a national or

regional authority, or that have been misrepresented or falsely reported.

3. Unregulated fishing: fishing activities that are carried out by vessels of no national

identity or by those flying the flag of a country that is not a member of that organization,

in a manner that is incompatible with state obligations for the preservation of living

marine resources under international norms.

China is well-known for being the worst offender when it comes to illicit, unreported, and

unregulated fishing, particularly off the coasts of Africa and South America. At least ten percent

of China's distant-water fleet has been estimated to be participating in such operations, while the

true proportion could be far higher.

Chinese boats were discovered illegally fishing off the coast of North Korea, the "biggest known

case of illegal fishing conducted by a single industrial fleet working in another nation's waters."

Chinese ships have been caught illegally fishing for bluefin tuna as far as the Mediterranean Sea.

Disputes with Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally in foreign waters, such as those of

Indonesia, Japan, North and South Korea, and Vietnam, often result in the arrest of Chinese

fishermen, who are notorious for battling back to the point that foreign coast guard

representatives have killed. "The Chinese fleet has a nasty reputation in the western Pacific for

widespread illegal fishing and harsh tactics when confronted by competitors or international

patrol vessels.

In an assessment, during 2009, the annual IUU catch ranges from 11 million to 26 million tons

worldwide, with estimated economic losses ranging from $10 billion to $23.5 billion 81.

81
https://doi.org/10.1371/_journal._pone.

35
Scientists' ability to assess stock status is hampered by a lack of exact catch data, putting fish

species under increased fishing pressure. IUU fishing endangers the protection and long-term

development of fish stocks and destroys fragile marine ecosystems. It not only undermines the

attempts of fishery management associations' conservation and management measures, but also

has negative consequences for fishermen's living standards and global food security, leading to

repeated demands from the global community for nations to collaborate at the global, regional,

sub-regional, and national levels to overcome IUU fishing.

Operational Enforcement /Instrument

Combating IUU fishing is complicated by a number of other international legal requirements.

 First, absence of an express of agreement/cooperation between two nations enabling

such prosecution, Article 73 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

(UNCLOS) bans criminal prosecution of fishing infractions. Although the US has signed

but not yet ratified UNCLOS, it believes that the vast majority of the treaty adequately

reflects the existing status of customary international law as it pertains to the law of the

sea

 . Following that, there are a number of diverse, multilateral international agreements,

such as the United Nations Fish Stocks Convention and a number of specific regional

fisheries conventions, that provide for regulatory remedies such as catch and vessel

seizures, but do not typically make it possible for criminal prosecution, in accordance

with UNCLOS.

 UN Sustainable fisheries resolutions; To guarantee the long-term conservation and

sustainable exploitation of highly migratory fish species by defining flag state

36
 responsibilities, such as vessel registration and recordkeeping, authorizations, MCS, and

compliance and enforcement. Cooperation in law enforcement is also taken into

consideration.

Apart from the enforcement from the United Nations...we have the FAO(Food agriculture

organisation)

 The Compliance Agreement: To ensure that flag states have control over their vessels, it

should be noted that flag states have a unique responsibility to ensure that none of their

vessels fish on the high seas unless authorized, and that they can effectively exercise their

responsibilities to ensure that their vessels comply with international measures.

 Code of Conduct for responsible fisheries; To establish principles and worldwide norms

for appropriate fishing activities in order to ensure that living aquatic resources are

effectively conserved, managed, and developed.

 VGCDS(Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes): To provide

formalized guidance on how to track and trace fish from the point of capture to unloading

and throughout the distribution chain; to record and certify information that identifies the

origin of fish caught and ensures they were harvested in a sustainable manner; and to

register and authenticate information that identifies the source of fish caught and

guarantees they were harvested in a sustainable way.

Furthermore, one of the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is to "properly

regulate harvesting and stop overfishing, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and

destructive fishing practices, and incorporate science-based management plans, in attempt to re-

37
establish fish stocks in the shortest time possible, at least to levels that can generate high

sustainable yield as ascertained by their biological features82."

CHAPTER 4

Controversies Over China’s Fishing Fleet in Iran and Pakistan

Introduction: Iran and Pakistan

Iran: Iran, commonly known as Persia, is a country in Western Asia that is formally known as

the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iraq and Turkey border it on the west, while Azerbaijan and

Armenia border it on the northwest. The Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan border it on the north,

Afghanistan and Pakistan border it on the east, and the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf border

it on the south. Iran is the fourth-largest country fully in Asia, and the second-largest in Western

Asia, with a surface area of 1,648,195 km2. 83The Caspian Sea, the Southern Seas (Persian Gulf,

Oman Sea, and Indian Ocean), inland water fisheries, and aquaculture are all part of Iranian

fisheries.84 Iran increased its fish production from 400000 MT( Metric Tons) in 1997 to 562000

mt in 2008. Between 1997 and 2008, however, it was 451.189 66.625 MT per year.

82
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/
83
https://www.itmedicalteam.pl/fisheriessciences/archive.html
84
https://www.researchgate.net/

38
While Pakistan; Pakistan is a country in South Asia that is officially known as the Islamic

Republic of Pakistan. With a population of about 227 million people, it is the world's fifth most

populous country and home to the world's second-largest Muslim population. It has a 1,046-

kilometer (650-mile) coastline that runs along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south,

and it is bordered on the east by India, on the west by Afghanistan, on the southwest by Iran, and

on the northeast by China.

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Pakistan's marine fisheries sector was built from the ground up after the country gained

independence in 1947. It was solely dependent on small-scale fishing at the time. Pakistan had

acquired a single dilapidated fish trawler as their portion of the subcontinent's fisheries resources

at the time, but there was no fish harbour or fish processing factory (Qureshi, 1961). In 1958, a

fish harbor was built in Karachi. The country's fishing fleet developed significantly as a result,

and it is now heavily mechanized. The fish production has also climbed to around 522 200

metric tons, with shrimp accounting for 26 000 metric tons.

Fisheries play a significant part in the economy of the country. It directly employs over 379 000

fishermen. In addition, supporting industries employ another 400 000 people. It is also a

significant source of revenue from exports.

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China, a major importer and exporter of fish-; The majority of seafood imported into China is

processed and shipped to other countries. The fishing sector is one of the most profitable export

industries in the country. Overfishing and depleting regional fish stocks, on the other hand, have

prompted China to hunt for fresh resources elsewhere. Some countries, particularly those in the

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https://www.fao.org/3/a0477e/a0477e0r.htm#TopOfPage
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https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/fisheries/china-re-exports-most-of-the-seafood-it-imports/amp/

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European Union, deliver fish to China for processing and then re-export. Others have set up fish

processing plants in China. China's domestic demand for fish, on the other hand, continues to

overwhelm availability.

 87
Pakistan, China, and Iran are all located in the same region, which is rich in natural

resources, geographically significant, and has enormous economic potential. The

prospects for trilateral collaboration are promising because, in addition to being

geographically close, their strategic and economic interests match. Regional connectivity

activities, mostly channelled by China in this area of the world, are in complete harmony

with Pakistan's and Iran's distinct economic and foreign objectives in the region. These

endeavours face numerous obstacles, as the security situation in this region has always

been precarious.

 China's expanding need for fish, both for internal consumption and to provide the

country's processed seafood sector, has had an increasing impact on Iran and Pakistan.

Stricter rules in Pakistan and a political standoff in Iran could make it more difficult for

China to extend its fishing sector into their waters. The increasing presence of Chinese

fishing vessels in Iranian waters has heightened tensions between Iranian political forces,

particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and President Hassan

Rouhani's government. The disagreement is being exacerbated by local fishermen's

growing discontent with Chinese industrial-style fishing. Meanwhile, new policies and

regulations in Pakistan may have an influence on China's seafood exports.

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 Iran's88 Overfishing Problem

Overfishing is a serious problem in the Gulf of Mexico, and Iran and China may not be

implementing the appropriate regulations on commercial trawlers.89 Local fishermen off the

coast of Iran have suffered as a result of the introduction of industrial-scale fishing in recent

years.

Commercial trawlers equipped with sonar technology have caused a 50% drop in harvests for

local fisherman in the last five years. According to a study released by Iran's parliament, Chinese

trawlers could soon be bringing in 46,000 tons of commercial fish. Some species not typically

connected with commercial fishing are in jeopardy, thanks in great part to the practice of

industrial-scale fishing. Economic dragnets claimed the lives of 150 dolphins in 2019. Seahorses

are frequently dried and powdered into a powder that is used in teas and soups in China, thus

Chinese warships use Iranian flags to fish for them on a large scale. When the Iranian navy

uncovers that some vessels are flying phony flags, it does not revoke their fishing licenses.

Fishermen in southern Iran have frequently demonstrated against the government's harmful

policies, which have resulted in increased 90unemployment and poverty.

Over 5,000 Chinese industrial trawlers have been given permission to fish in Iran's most

abundant waterways by the Iranian Fisheries Organization. Locals claim that Chinese trawlers

leave nothing for native fisherman, and even fish eggs and shellfish get captured in their nets.

Iran's Corruption/Misconduct

This has been detected by more than just the locals. Chinese trawlers are allegedly illegally

depleting Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf of important fish supplies for
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https://www.mei.edu/
89
https://observers.france24.com/en/20200729-iran-chinese-trawlers-destroy-marine-ecosystems
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https://iran-hrm.com/index.php/2018/08/30/regime-sells-oman-persian-gulf-fish-china-causing-environmental-
crisis/

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their own financial gain, according to the Revolutionary Guards Corps. In an effort to encourage

local fisherman, Colonel Teymour Payedareh, commander of the Guards' Imamat Naval Base at

Jask, issued91 report that 14 boats had been taken.

Officials from the Islamic Republic assert that, despite their Chinese origins, the boats are leased

by Iranian fishing enterprises in need of deep-sea fishing vessels. They utilize trawlers to harvest

lanternfish, which are used in industrial applications such as cow feed; at a depth of 200 meters.

Certain Chinese nationals work on the trawlers leased from China, according to Iranian officials,

but they are not all Chinese fishermen. Fars also chastised the president of Hormozgan's fishing

company for claiming that the province's fish exports bring in $130 million. In response, the

report described the "damage" that Chinese fishing brings to marine species and the local fishing

economy.

China's aim, according to the Iran Fishery Company in Hormozgan, is lanternfish, which is used

as a feed for fish farms. It claims that because the fish has a short lifespan—roughly a year—it is

squandered if it is not used. It further claims that lanternfish are numerous, and that restricting

Chinese fishing will benefit neighbouring Oman instead.

The IRGC

The Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps 92(IRGC) were angered by these 93contradictory

accounts. In 2019, the IRGC navy requested that 20 permits be distributed to local fisherman on

the island of Abu Musa, accusing President Hassan Rouhani's 94 government of unwillingness to

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http://fna.ir/brfxk1
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https://ifpnews.com/
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https://www.radiofarda.com/a/iran-persian-gulf-chinese-fishermen-trawl/30714173.html
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https://snn.ir/fa/news/

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do so. New government laws in Hormozgan Province make obtaining fishing licenses difficult

for local populations.

 95
The Revolutionary Guards' Navy is in charge of protecting marine territories in the Gulf

of Oman and the Persian Gulf. A vessel is taken to a port after being seized, and the crew

is usually taken into custody as well. If the court finds the vessel to be at fault, a fine may

be imposed, and in more serious circumstances, the government may be able to seize it.

 Foreign vessels with contracts with the Iranian government were also detained by the

Revolutionary Guards Corps without the government submitting any allegations that the

vessels had participated in illegal operations. However, some members of parliament and

Revolutionary Guard commanders claim that these warships have been involved in illegal

activities, and that the government is unable — or unwilling — to offer legal

documentation to indicate that they have been performing what they were contracted to

do. Not only does this demonstrate the financial corruption and illegal activity at hand,

but it also reveals how many government departments' ineptitude resulted in a massive

catastrophe. The cargo of 19 trawlers, the most of which were Chinese, were confiscated

by the IRGC navy in Iranian waters in 2019. They detained 34 trawlers in unlawful

zones. However, 60 commercial ships continued to fish in Iranian seas on a regular basis,

with just around five of them examined. Tehran also gave Chinese trawlers with permits

$663,000 in fuel 96subsidies ( worth $1,166,000 at today market exchange rate).

China’s Fishing Fleet in Pakistan

Pakistan's top fish export destination is China. However, Pakistan's natural resources depleted

due to a variety of factors, the most serious of which is overfishing. According to a UN Food and
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https://iranwire.com/
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http://farhikhtegandaily.com

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Agriculture Organization (FAO) assessment on Pakistan's fisheries published in 2015, not a

single resource in Pakistan's marine fisheries is harvested sustainably. Pakistan's marine

resources are overfished and declining as part of a "ongoing ecological crisis," according to the

report.

.......Trawlers use giant nets with hefty weights pulled across the ocean floor to capture

everything in their pathway, a process that conservationists warn is extremely damaging. 97These

trawlers have finely woven nets that trap small and large fish, as well as eggs, in order to wipe

out aquatic life.

Since the 1990s, Pakistani coastal regions have been subjected to deep sea trawling. Trawlers

have largely decimated the fishery population in the Indus delta due to a lack of a robust check

and balance system. When the Chinese ships travel, the net sweeps the sea floor, collecting every

living thing in the procedure, whether or not it is needed and when the trawl net is brought

aboard the ship, the commercially valuable fish are removed, and the rest — (eggs and dead fish)

– is discarded. Deep sea trawling, harms the environment by allowing overfishing while also

destroying seabird nesting grounds.

Protest: Fishermen in Pakistan staged protest concerning deep sea trawling for and their catch

dropped dramatically. Local fisherman were outraged when Chinese ships arrived, fearing that

the federal government was secretly permitting Chinese ships to fish in these waters. The

community feared the worst because the government had not formally rejected issuing fishing

licenses to these trawlers.

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https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/?amp

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 Chinese Trawlers Apprehended in Pakistan for Illegal/Illicit Fishing;

As a wave of demonstrations swept across the area, spurred by fishermen worried about losing

control of their fishing grounds to China, Pakistan apprehended five Chinese trawlers on

suspicion of illegal fishing near its vital port city of Gwadar. Gwadar is the entrance to the
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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar Chinese megaproject that

participates in Pakistan as part of Beijing's belt and road concept of worldwide infrastructure

projects. Under a 40-year lease deal, Pakistan handed over control of Gwadar's port to China

Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC)

The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) apprehended the Chinese trawlers, which were

filled with fish, and launched an inquiry into their unusual activity at Gwadar, where 99China has

established a deep-sea port as part of its worldwide belt and road program. Hundreds of

fishermen protested the Chinese trawlers, accusing them of fishing in Pakistani waters and then

returning the catch to China.

Ways Forward

 Pakistani officials implemented a new 100deep-sea policy , prohibiting fishing beyond 12

miles offshore. The policy reduced the quantity of the catch, but it is unpopular with

fishermen, who argue that the foreign currency earned from fish exports should be used

to soften or lift the prohibition. Pakistan's seafood exports decreased as a result of the

new policy, and the economy has suffered as a result.

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Pakistan is anticipating that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will make its fish

export industry more profitable. The CPEC has already increased the shipping of seafood from
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https://dailytimes.com.pk/666040/gwadar-port-gateway-to-glory/
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/china
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https://moma.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/DSFL%20Policy-2018%20notified.pdf
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https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/

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Pakistan to China. Fish distribution via land is a tenth of the time it takes by sea, is more cost-

effective, and reduces quality loss before the fish reaches China. One of CPEC's projects, the

construction of an international airport at Pakistan's Gwadar harbor, is intended to boost

Pakistan's seafood exports to China.

However, these projects have not been well received by everyone in Pakistan. Local fisherman in

Gwadar port 102

demonstrated against the development of a highway that cuts off access to the

Arabian Sea. Fish shipments to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other

regional destinations have been hampered by strikes on a regular basis.

When it comes to fishing, though, Pakistan is much ahead of Iran. Pakistan's industry is a vital

sector of the economy, with a complicated structure.

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1454126

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