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The fishing effort of the Chinese fleet in the South Atlantic multiplied by eight in ten years

The pressure on the marine ecosystem and the food resources of the countries of the region are at risk due to the uncontrolled increase in the fishing effort of the distant water fleets

The fishing effort* of distant-water vessels operating in the Southwestern Atlantic -in the area bordering the Argentine exclusive economic zone-, has multiplied by eight in the last ten years, according to an estimate made by the Environmental Policy Circle based on satellite data provided by the Global Fishing Watch platform.

According to the analysis carried out, the apparent fishing effort in 2013 was 59,204 hours, reaching 469,912 hours in 2022.

The number of boats that come from other latitudes -mainly from China- to fish in this area has almost quintupled in the last decade. In 2013, 74 Chinese-flagged vessels were counted, reaching 346 in 2022, a decrease compared to the peak number of units in 2021, which was 429. Although a decrease in vessels is estimated in the last survey period, even so, the fishing effort continued to increase.

The study coincides with the statements of the Government of China, in which it is stated that the squid catch in the area has been decreasing, and as a counterpart, the country has increased the fishing effort, to the detriment of declining populations, generating an alarm that it is in a situation of predation:

According to the Weihai Ocean Development Office¹:

“In recent years, the number of fishing vessels operating on the high seas in the Southwest Atlantic has continued to increase and squid production has continued to decline, yet abundant fish resources exist in the Argentine 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.”

The mostly Chinese fleet that operates in the Southwest Atlantic has no control whatsoever, it does not respect the breeding seasons of the species, including in its capture marine mammals, such as elephants and sea lions, dolphins and other fish species such as sharks and rays -some of which are protected due to their vulnerable situation-. These vessels also carry out their activity generating very high levels of polluting discharges and using slave labor.²

On the other hand, sometimes these vessels make illegal incursions into the Argentine Sea, in some cases en masse. In May 2001, the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA) captured the first illegal Chinese fishing vessel, a decade later, in 2020, the last two of this nationality were captured, one belonging to the eastern state.

The lack of data on the volumes of catches, species, and the non-existence of information on bycatch could be an alert that the marine ecosystem is being pushed to the limit, without being able to have a minimum forecast of when a possible collapse will occur and avoid it.

Many coastal communities in Argentina that depend on fishing for their economy and the companies that fish legally within the EEZ for export - more than 90% of marine catches go to the foreign market - catch the same species that the Chinese fleet takes: common hake, hoki, toothfish, squid, pollock, etc. In the event of a commercial collapse of the fishery, an economic and employment crisis could be generated in the provinces with the maritime coast of Argentina.

Solutions

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the South West Atlantic carried out by a power like China is difficult for the country to tackle. However, there are some measures that the Argentine Government should adopt to begin to face this problem.

Among others, the ratification of the UN Agreement for the Conservation of Biodiversity Outside National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)³; the ratification of the Agreement to Prohibit Subsidies to Overfishing and IUU Fishing of the World Trade Organization⁴; advance in the partial approval by the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation of the Fishing Traceability Bill⁵ and the creation of a Marine Protected Area in the High Seas in the water column through the BBNJ.

*The apparent fishing effort is obtained from the AIS transmissions of the vessels taking into account a navigation speed in parameters that coincide with the fishing speeds. Also, not all vessels keep their AIS on all the time, so there may be undetected fishing effort, as well as the presence of undetected vessels.

1 Oficina de Desarrollo Oceánico de Weihai: “Por primera vez, buques pesqueros de nuestra provincia ingresaron a las aguas argentinas de 200 millas náuticas”, 12/11/2019. https://www.sohu.com/a/353341664_120214181

2 Círculo de Políticas Ambientales: “Sobreexplotación pesquera en el Atlántico Sudoccidental”, marzo 2023. 

https://circulodepoliticasambientales.org/sobreexplotacion-pesquera-en-el-atlantico-sudoccidental/

3 Schvartzman, Milko: “De qué trata el acuerdo global por el océano”, en Punto Verde Blog. 13/04/2023. 

https://puntoverdeblog.net/2023/04/13/de-que-trata-el-acuerdo-global-por-el-oceano/

4 Círculo de Políticas Ambientales: Prohibición de subvenciones a la pesca destructiva. Ratificación del acuerdo de la OMC”, julio de 2023. https://circulodepoliticasambientales.org/prohibicion-de-subvenciones-a-la-pesca￾destructiva-ratificacion-del-acuerdo-de-la-omc/

5 Círculo de Políticas Ambientales: “Trazabilidad de la pesca: La demanda global y la situación argentina”, diciembre de 2021. https://circulodepoliticasambientales.org/trazabilidad-de-la-pesca-la-demanda-global-y-la￾situacion-argentina/

Source: Círculo de Políticas Ambientales (translated from original in spanish)

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