Tensions are emerging along the Pacific coast of South America as a giant Chinese fishing fleet of about three hundred ships moves from the edge of the Galapagos Marine Reserve to the waters of Peru.
On Tuesday afternoon, President Trump excited China on one of the issues, ranging from coronavirus to human rights, in a speech at the Unidas. Se Nations focused on Chinese fishing and maritime behavior, saying the country “throws millions and millions of tons of plastic and wastes in the oceans, overfishes the waters of other countries, ” and destroys coral reefs.
Soon after, the U. S. Embassy in Peru issued a tweet reporting on China’s mega fleet off its coast, accusing the fleet of converting ship names and disabling GPS tracking to restrict tracking of fleet activities.
“Overpesca can cause enormous ecological and economic damage,” says the tweet. “Peru can’t a loss like that. “
This provoked a rapid reaction from the Chinese Embassy in Peru, which warned that America’s mendacity on the environmental and maritime integrity of the fleet.
“We expect the Peruvian public to be deceived with false information,” says the statement, written in Spanish.
Peru and Ecuador have giant fishing fleets and rely heavily on seafood for their livelihood and valuable export dollars. In 2018, the two countries caught 4. 5 million metric tons of fish, almost as much as the United States, but about a quarter of what China harvested at sea, according to the World Bank.
Both countries benefit from the Humboldt stream, a nutrient-rich exange water that exists off the Pacific coast of South America and is helping to feed one of the world’s most productive fishing fishing grounds. This year, China’s fishing fleets have threatened to protect the food source. , the most recent clash involving China’s willingness to collect seafood in the world’s oceans.
In July, the Ecuadorian government and foreign environmental teams began tracking the mega-fleet, which was parked on the edge of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site and an Ecuadorian National Park.
The reserve covers more than 51,000 square miles of ocean around the archipelago, located about six hundred miles off the Ecuadorian coast. More than 20% of the species discovered in the reserve are unique to the archipelago.
According to a report published through Oceana, which monitored the fleet, the Chinese fishing navy caught approximately 73,000 hours between July 13 and 13 August and accounted for 99% of fishing activity on the perimeter of the reserve.
On August 2, U. S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo issued a saying that the United States supported Ecuador’s efforts to save China from illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing. He added that the United States supports nations “whose economies and herbal resources are threatened by contempt for the rule of law and guilty fishing practices of flag ships of the People’s Republic of China. “PRC is an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Later that month, the U. S. Coast Guard sent one of its ships, the Bertholf Cutter, in coordination with the Ecuadorian Navy.
The force patrolled more than 3,000 miles in Ecuadorian waters to monitor the mega fleet.
Last week, the Coast Guard announced a new initiative to mitigate and save illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing in foreign waters.
According to the government and defense sources, the mega fleet has moved south in days towards waters off Peru.
Like the United States and other countries, Ecuador has an exclusive economic zone two hundred nautical miles from its coast, over which it has sovereign rights over all resources. According to press reports, the government is discussing the option of extending this domain to 350 nautical miles.
In addition, the South American country would work with neighbors such as Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia to identify a marine reserve room that would isolate much of marine life along the Pacific coast from advertising fishing.
Ecuador is also indebted to China. In August, the country was in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and others to restructure $17. 4 billion in debt; negotiations included $2 billion in china’s bilateral loans, according to Bloomberg. this month, it is not known how much the country of China earned.
In 2018, Ecuador owed more than $6. 5 billion in debt to China.
China’s global fishing fleet is huge, with estimates suggesting that 17,000 ships sail in waters away from the Chinese coast, while the United States reports on three hundred fishing boats in foreign waters.
With the waters near China most commonly depleted and China’s population accounting for roughly a third of global fish consumption, the country has had to feed itself, adding waters from West Africa and Latin America, where, according to experts, local governments lack investment and fleets to monitor the waters.
At a hearing last week, U. S. Senator Jim Risch (Republican for Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised President Trump for running with his allies to counter China’s competitive movements on several fronts.
“China’s competitive and illegal fishing practices undermine the territorial integrity of Latin American coastal countries, leading to long-term security concerns,” Risch said.