August 20, 2022
2 mins read

Quad to curb China’s illegal fishing in Indo-Pacific

Quad maritime initiative will use satellite technology to create a tracking system for illegal fishing from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific by connecting surveillance centers in Singapore and India.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) nations – the United States, Australia, Japan and India are planning to curb China’s illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific using satellite tracking technology connecting surveillance centres in Singapore and India.

China is accused of being the biggest beneficiary of not-so-legal fishing, so much so that there is a risk of fish stock being depleted in the Pacific and the seas near the Chinese’ coast, reported The HK Post.

As per a UK-based media, Quad maritime initiative will use satellite technology to create a tracking system for illegal fishing from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific by connecting surveillance centers in Singapore and India”.

It “will enable these countries to monitor illegal fishing even when the boats have turned off the transponders which are typically used to track vessels”.

China has been the worst offender in the 2021 illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) Fishing index, which maps illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in 152 coastal countries. Chinese ships can be found everywhere in the world. The Quad initiative comes in the wake of this menace in the Indo-Pacific, reported The HK Post,

The big vessels not only catch illegally, overexploit the marine resources but also leave a little for local boats by scooping up a major haul of fish. The problem of Chinese distant water overfishing has spread to the Pacific.

An armada of Chinese fishing vessels is encroaching territorial waters far away from China to find seafood, even Chinese experts are now beginning to admit that “global fish stocks are facing a crisis, with nearly all classified as either fully fully exploited, overexploited or significantly depleted”.

China is the largest contributor to this problem as a world leader in both fishery exports and imports, according to a paper by Dr Hongzhou Zhang of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Genevieve Donnellon-May a master’s candidate in Water Science.

It is “simultaneously responsible for 15 per cent of the global total of caught fish and one-third of fish consumption worldwide”, they say.

Research suggests that Chinese fishing fleets have trespassed into the waters of over 90 countries and depleted stocks. With the increasing geopolitical tension between the United States and China, “greater attention is being paid to IUU)fishing by Chinese fishing vessels in the Asia Pacific”.

China has always been a coastal fishing nation. Originally, it used to net what is called trash fish – smaller, cheaper coastal and bottom-dwelling fish species. In the last three decades, however, its tastes have improved.

The fishing activities, accordingly, evolved. It subsequently raised a Distant Water Fishing (DWF) fleet to cater to the ever-growing demand for wild-caught fish, reported The HK Post.

The fleet operates outside of a nation’s territorial waters of the exclusive economic zone. When caught, they deny having violated any rules. These fleets fly under flags of convenience and take advantage of several loopholes in the laws. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Australia reaches out to Quad partners amid China’s growing dominance

Previous Story

Imran faces arrest in foreign funding case

Next Story

Sri Lanka woos Indian tourists

Latest from -Top News

AU Backs New UN Libya Roadmap

The Roadmap seeks to resolve the Libyan crisis through a political process centred on institutional unification…reports Asian Lite News The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has

Sudan Feels Impact of GERD

The GERD project remains a point of contention among Nile Basin countries….reports Asian Lite News Water levels in Sudan’s Blue Nile have fallen to record lows following Ethiopia’s announcement that it has

UNESCO sounds alarm on teacher gap

Amina Mohammed proposed a five-point plan to strengthen the profession through greater investment, gender equality, support for digital learning…reports Asian Lite News At the UNESCO World Summit on Teachers in Santiago, Chile,

Modi Ends China Trip, US Hails India Ties

US termed India-US ties as a “defining relationship of the 21st century”, stating that partnership between both countries continues to reach new heights….reports Asian Lite News Shortly after videos and images of
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Sikh woman killed in ‘targeted incident’ in Canada

The incident comes just days after 18 year-old Indian-origin Sikh

TMC in favour of joint opposition candidate?

The Congress has conveyed its support to Nationalist Congress Party