‘Prevent, discourage, confront’: South American states tackle Chinese fishing boats
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru join forces over fleets’ Pacific territory intrusions
Chile’s Commander Rodrigo Lepe shows a ship from a large fleet of Chinese fishing vessels fishing along the Pacific coast of South America. Photograph: Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters
Agence France-Presse
Wed 4 Nov 2020 18.31 EST
Four South American countries have joined forces in a bid to combat illegal fishing by huge Chinese fleets off their coasts.
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have threatened measures “to prevent, discourage and jointly confront” illegal fishing near their exclusive economic zones in the Pacific.
The joint statement made no specific mention of China but environmental groups Greenpeace and Oceana have repeatedly warned of the growing presence of Chinese fishing fleets in the area.
The South American quartet said they would boost “cooperation and real-time exchange of information” to highlight the illegal fishing.
Ecuador in July complained to China over a 300-vessel fleet off Galapagos, saying around half of them had turned off their tracking systems so they could not be located.
Beijing in early August banned its vessels from fishing near the Galapagos from September to November this year.
The Chinese fleet instead headed south through international waters to fish near the exclusive economic zones of Peru and Chile, according to NGO Oceana.
Oceana has accused the Chinese of “pillaging” the waters off the Galapagos, primarily for squid, thereby depriving some species in the waters of the protected archipelago – including fur seals and hammerhead sharks – of their essential diet.
• This article was amended on 5 November 2020 to remove incorrect references to trawlers.
Informing and sharing news on marine life, flora, fauna and conservation in the Galápagos Islands since 2017
© SOS Galápagos, 2021
