June 8, 2024 — The Chinese distant-water fishing fleet is a formidable force. For one thing, it’s the largest in the world, with at least 2,500 vessels — but likely many more. These vessels, many of which are propped up by government subsidies, are present in all of the world’s major oceans and countless coastal areas. The fleet’s sheer size and geographical span means it takes a sizeable volume of marine fish out of the sea: an estimated 4 million metric tons yearly.
Experts say the Chinese distant-water fleet also participates in a disproportionate amount of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and exploitative practices such as shark finning and human rights violations. Previous reporting on these issues has usually focused on parts of the world such as the coastal waters of West Africa, or around the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Latin American countries like Ecuador and Argentina, where the Chinese distant-water fleet has drawn attention and stirred controversy. However, a recent report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a U.K.-based nonprofit organization, highlights the illegal and unsustainable activities of the Chinese distant-water fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean, a global hotspot for marine biodiversity and home to commercially important tuna species like yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and bigeye (Thunnus obesus).
Published in April, the EJF report draws primarily from crew testimonials to paint a grim picture of the Chinese distant-water fleet behaving badly in the seas off the coast of East Africa. They describe illegal shark-finning operations, with crew cutting the fins off dozens of sharks every night before throwing the still-living bodies overboard; captains ordering crew to kill dolphins and false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) so they can collect their teeth and jaws; North Korean workers kept on vessels indefinitely, unable to go home even after completing multiyear contracts; and sick crew members forced to work until they collapse and die
The report authors say the Chinese distant-water fleet’s behaviors pose a “serious threat to the sustainability of global fisheries and the wellbeing of fishers, and the millions of people who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods” and also undermine “good governance and the rule of national laws and international regulation in fisheries.” The authors also shine a light on China’s substantial investment in the blue economy in the Southwest Indian Ocean region, including the building of ports and fisheries infrastructure, which they say may make “heavily indebted countries … feel obligated to allow Chinese business ventures to access [marine] resources,” to the detriment of the environment and local communities.