China’s fishing trawlers endangering marine life of South America: Report

Beijing [China], February 6 (ANI): Chinese Distant Water Fishing Fleet (DWF) vessels have been spotted fishing rare and protected species and disturbing the marine ecological balance.

These DWFs are found in international waters near Japan and South Korea in the Asiatic continent and Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina in the South American continent, Geopolitica.info reported.

The Galapagos Islands a part of Ecuador’s territory, are the worst victim. The EEZ of Ecuador’s mainland and the Galapagos do not overlap, thus creating an international corridor where any country can fish. In the area, the DWFs from China openly fish and turn off their identity transponders to avoid detection, Geopolitica.info report stated.

Argentina a coastal country in the South American continent is the second-largest squid fishery in the world which makes it an ideal location for these DWFs. Argentine authorities have taken strict measures and even sunk a fishing trawler flying the Chinese flag after being caught illegally fishing within the country’s EEZ. Their vessels have spent close to 600,000 hours ‘dark-fishing’ in the area.

In Uruguay country located on the southeastern coast of South America caught a Chinese-flagged vessel within their EEZ, carrying 11 tons of Squid. These vessels are causing a lot of concern for Uruguayan authorities as well as locals as they are not only present near the EEZ but also dangerously close to their land boundary.

In Peru, the local fishermen have complained about Chinese overfishing of giant squid, which is the country’s second biggest marine resource after anchovies. And because of this locals are also losing their jobs and the fishing industry of the area is on the verge of being wiped out.

The report claimed that these fleets are often linked to illegal activities such as encroaching on other nations’ territorial waters, abusing workers and catching protected and endangered species. Although Shark fishing is banned throughout Central and South America, Chinese communities consume it as a delicacy.