China courts Mauritius tuna stocks

China is opening its doors to seafood imports from Mauritius, welcoming the country’s fisheries minister to Beijing to sign an agreement on export licensing for Mauritian product — a pact that could see Chinese fishing fleets displace European boats in the waters of the Indian Ocean nation.

Aiming to corner tuna resources globally, China welcomed Mauritius’ fisheries minister Louis Joseph Von Mally visit to Beijing last week to meet Wu Qinghai Deputy Director of China’s quarantine body, the General Administration of Quality Supervision (AQSIO). A report of the meeting on AQSIQ’s website explained how Von Mally outlined Mauritius’ fishery resources and quotes the Mauritius minister as saying he “expects cooperation with China.” The AQSIQ report states that Wu and Von Mally signed a Memo for Mauritians Aquatic Products Exports — a vital step in getting AQSIQ approval Mauritius seafood for sale in China.

Von Mally also met China’s vice minister for agriculture, Chen Xiaohua. A statement from the ministry said the two sides “exchanged views on intensifying fishery cooperation,” with Chen reminding the Mauritius visitor that both nations are members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and “are highly complementary to each other in terms of fisheries.”

Mauritius has a “wide exclusive ocean economic zone” and “rich fishery resources” said Chen, while China has “advanced aquaculture techniques” which it’s willing to share with Mauritius. Chen said he wanted to see more cooperation between the two sides and would encourage Chinese enterprises to invest in Mauritius. Von Mally, said China’s agricultural ministry statement, “fully agreed with Chen’s comment on bilateral fishery cooperation and showed his admiration China’s achievements in pelagic fishing and aquaculture… and said Mauritius was willing to carry out cooperation with China in pelagic fishing and aquaculture and provide possible conveniences to Chinese enterprises that intend to invest in Mauritius.”

China’s entry into Mauritian waters would see it compete with Japanese, Taiwanese and European players in the region. It’s unclear what Chinese pursuit of local tuna would mean for Mauritian fishermen, who have accused EU vessels of overfishing and underpaying in the territorial waters of Mauritius. Under a deal with Mauritius vessels from EU states harvest 5,500 tons of fish a year for EUR 660,000 (USD 803,315) — a situation which undervalues local tuna, according to Mauritius’ Syndicat des Pecheurs (Union of Fishermen). The union has also criticized European fishermen for using seiners that empty the seas of smaller fish swept up in the nets. However, Von Mally in a statement earlier this year disagreed with the fishermen, telling local media that the country doesn’t have sufficient vessels to fish its seas while processing for the EU market has created local employment.

Von Mally’s visit to China will be of interest to India, which considers the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius part of its back yard. India last month signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with China, which was including fishery industry, feeds and other materials. Aimed at rebalancing India’s trade deficit with China, the agreement will aim to “institutionalize” the import and export between India and China and promote shipments of aquatic products to China. Seafood is one of the few areas in which India enjoys a surplus in its trade with China: in 2012, India exported USD 130 million (EUR 97 million) in aquatic products to China but imported USD 728,000 (EUR 543,700) worth of seafood from China.

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