How is China feeding its population of 1.4 billion?
Excerpt:
According to a two-year investigation by
Green Peace, Chinese DWF boats have been found fishing illegally and falsifying their catch tonnage in the prohibited waters of Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and other countries. While the West African coast’s fishing grounds are some of the most plentiful in the world, almost all
are fully or overexploited by international fishing fleets. The African Union convened a summit on
Maritime Security and Safety in October 2016 to discuss various maritime issues, including lucrative illegal fishing trade that generates between $10-23 billion annually.
China is the largest producer of fish products, with 76.1 million tons of production in 2014.
Further stirring controversy, a
2012 EU study found that Chinese fishing authorities had severely underreported their DWF while overreporting their domestic catches. From 2000 to 2011, it was estimated that China harvested roughly 4.6 million tons of fish per year in distant waters. This amounts to roughly
12 times more than the 368,000 tons officially reported to the United Nations. This and numerous other incidents of underreporting suggest a high degree of overfishing, raising concerns of fish recovery and future sustainability.
The actions of Chinese fishermen have also sparked a bevy of international disputes. In March 2016, the
Argentina Coast Guard sank a Chinese trawler which it claimed to be fishing illegally in its waters. In October 2016, a Chinese fishing boat
rammed and sank a South Korean Coast Guard boat, causing a diplomatic row that stalled bilateral efforts to crackdown on illegal fishing. Similar fishing-fleet incidents have occurred with some regularity in the
disputed waters of the South China Sea, where China has used its coast guard and maritime militia to intimidate foreign fishermen and support the contested actions of Chinese fishermen. Chinese poachers in the South China Sea have devastated the delicate ecosystem. At Scarborough Shoal, fishermen have intentionally destroyed roughly
half the total reef surface (approximately 58 square kilometers) in their efforts to harvest giant clams. As of January 2017, however, Hainan province has
amended its Coral Reef Protection Act to include banning the processing and trade of giant clams under its marine protection laws. China recently passed new laws to protect giant clams and other species
