China’s government has announced it is stepping up its efforts on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by locking vessels listed by international bodies as suspected of illegal fishing out of Chinese ports, according to a statement from the Agriculture Ministry in Beijing, which oversees fisheries.
Vessels listed as participating in IUU by fisheries organizations to which China belongs, including the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the South Pacific Fisheries Management Commission, will now be banned from docking in Chinese ports.
"Relevant authorities have been informed to block these vessels entering our ports," the statement said.
Chinese ministries have formally launched a cross-departmental committee to begun to collaborate on enforcement of the ban. Ministries involved include the ministries of agriculture, commerce, foreign affairs, and transport as well as the Customs Administration. The country’s fishing ports will be organized into 10 clusters allowing for “better collection of data” on IUU fishing, the ministerial statement said.
The ministry’s statement also referenced the coming into force of the FAO’s Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) – which China has yet to join – as an international agreement fighting IUU.
In recent statements, China’s government has hinted it will take a more active role internationally on IUU. Simultaneously, Chinese officials have been meeting with counterparts to negotiate a World Trade Organization deal that may cut back on subsidies to the fishing sector.
China has yet to face the kind of disciplinary approach meted out by the international community against countries accused of not doing enough to prevent illegal fishing, such as the European Union’s yellow card.
While it seems Brussels has been hesitant to issue China a yellow card warning due to its status as a world power, the European Union-China Blue Partnership for the Oceans, a recently-signed agreement, includes a commitment to tackle IUU fishing,
Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard
