On July 1, the Committee will hold a discussion to explain the actions that have been taken and what has been observed.
June 30, 2021 – 7:49 pm
Photo: Courtesy Milko Schvartzman
The Government reported that this June 30, the III Meeting of the Inter-Institutional Committee of the Sea (CIM) was held, in which the presence of foreign fishing vessels in areas bordering the jurisdictional waters of Ecuador, in the Insular region, was analyzed.
The CIM evaluates the actions that have been adopted, inside and outside the country, in the face of this situation and, in addition, the current location of the ships is monitored, in order to provide a multidimensional and inter-institutional response.
The Más Galapagos collective alerted on June 29 that the arrival of what would be the first Chinese-flag fishing boat was detected in the vicinity of the islands. This would be one of the nearly 300 vessels that make up the international fishing fleet that arrive in that area each year.**
However, that same day, the Government explained that the illegal entry of a foreign vessel to the Insular region has not been registered and that it is located in international waters, approximately 300 nautical miles from the Ecuadorian Insular Exclusive Economic Zone and about 470 nautical miles from the Galapagos Marine Reserve.
The Committee is part of the Executive Function and is responsible for the approval, articulation, coordination and evaluation of the intersectoral public policy of the sea. It is made up of the ministries of Foreign Relations and Human Mobility -which presides over it-, National Defense; Environment, Water and Ecological Transition; Transportation and Public Works; of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fishing; the Technical Secretariat for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, and the National Planning Secretariat.
During the session, the actions of the Committee on the Outer Limit of the Ecuadorian Continental Shelf (CLEPCE) were also reviewed in relation to future presentations to the United Nations on the extension of maritime territory in the underwater mountain ranges of Carnegie, Coco and Colón. On the other hand, it was learned about the recently approved Organic Law of Navigation, Safety Management and Maritime and River Protection in Aquatic Spaces.
For July 1, at 10:00, the CIM is scheduled to hold an open discussion in Quito to provide details of the actions undertaken by the Minister of the Environment, Gustavo Manrique; the Vice Minister of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Andrés Arens, among other authorities. (I)
Read the original coverage from El Universo at https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/ecuador/embarcaciones-extranjeras-barco-china-galapagos-pesca-reserva-marina-nota/
Editorial Note:
**The original announcement was made by Milko Schvartzman, though Más Galapagos subsequently reposted Schvartzman’s tracking capture of the vessel. Más Galapagos has been credited with the discovery, when the announcement was originally from Milko Schvartzman. Issues with a variation in the naming convention for the vessel were not known to Más Galapagos but were quickly clarified by Milko Schvartzman.
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