• Ocean

Chinese Trawling Fleet Posing As Domestic Operators Drains Fish from Ghanaian Waters

• China
• distant water fleet
• IUU
• IUU fishing
• trawl

By Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer

West Africa’s fishing grounds are quickly being monopolized by the Chinese distant-waters fishing industry, according to a new report released by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). In Ghana, an estimated 90% of the country’s coastal trawlers are, for all intents and purposes, owned by Chinese corporations despite laws banning foreign ownership.

Why This Matters: In Ghana, the local fishing economy relies on coastal fishing for food and income. As Chinese industrial fishing operations encroach on these resources and expand operations they contribute to wide-scale ecosystem destruction.

• Ocean

Illegal Fishing Getting Tougher As Japan and Russia Crack Down

• fishers
• fishing
• IUU
• IUU fishing
• traceability

Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (“IUU”) fishing operations will now have two fewer countries to dump their fish in — Japan now requires a “certificate of legal catch” from a foreign government if a company from that country wants to sell its fish in Japan. And the Russian government ratified a treaty that allows them to inspect fish at the dock and refuse to block entry to fishing vessels known to be involved in illegal fishing.

Why This Matters:  Japan’s market is one of the largest in the world and its new law is seen as pivotal in fighting illegal fishing.  Russia’s ratification of the treaty on blocking illegal fish is good news because Russia was one of the few industrial fishing nations that had not signed on to the treaty.

• Ocean

China’s Illegal Fishing Fleet In GhanaIs Is Rife With Abuses

• China
• fish
• fishing
• Ghana
• Illegal
• IUU fishing
• ocean
• unregulated
• unreported

A new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation exposes the horrific conditions that Ghanain fishermen face on Chinese-owned industrial trawlers. This capture of the country’s fishing industry flies in the face of Ghanian laws that forbid foreign ownership or control of ships flying its flag. It also makes illegal fishing much harder to trace and regulate.  

Why This Matters: It’s impossible to have sustainable fisheries when as much as half of the global catch is illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU).

• Politics

China and the U.S. Trade Environmental Barbs

• #30x30
• biodiversity
• China
• climate change
• emissions
• greenhouse gasses
• IUU fishing
• plastic
• pollution
• United Nations

Yesterday the Chinese government released a detailed condemnation of the U.S. government’s environment and climate policies.  Labeled as a “Fact Sheet of Environmental Damage Caused by the US,” it contains a litany of U.S. environmental failures.

Why This Matters:  The U.S.’s shot at China came after the Chinese announced at the UN General Assembly that China plans to be climate neutral by 2060.

• Ocean

Illegal Fishing in Galapagos Threatens Ecosystem and Economy

• China
• Galapagos
• Galapagos Marine Reserve
• IUU fishing
• Oceana
• satellite
• transshipment

The LA Times’ Susanne Rust reported on a brewing controversy surrounding China’s notorious “distant water” fishing fleet — it’s 17,000 vessels strong and has conducted dubious fishing operations off the coasts of West Africa, Argentina, and Japan.

Why this Matters: The Galapagos Islands hold a bounty of flora and fauna; 20% of the species found in the Galapagos aren’t found anywhere else in the world.  Illegal fishing in the region is anything but new, but in late August 2020, the number of illegal fishing vessels exploded.

• Ocean

China Fishing Illegally in North Korean Waters According to New Investigation

• China
• environment
• Illegal fishing
• IUU fishing
• NBC News
• Security Council
• United Nations

Using satellite monitoring technology and intelligence capabilities, an investigation by NBC News and Ian Urbina an author and former NY Times journalist, has uncovered massive fishing by a “dark” fleet in North Korean waters with deadly results for North Korean fishermen.

Why This Matters:  China is a member of the UN Security Council that in 2017 banned fishing in North Korean waters (which China used to pay to access) as part of sanctions it imposed after North Korea’s nuclear missile tests.  If it’s true (and the UN has an anonymous report corroborating China’s violations with evidence to back it up) it would be a serious breach of the UN’s security rules