According to the China Pelagic Squid Index, its current annual production of squid on the high seas is about 600,000 tons, “of which more than 85% are Peruvian giant squid.”

 

 

The Outlaw Ocean researcher Ian Urbina said that a study commissioned by the European Parliament in 2022 on illegal fishing incidents found that almost half of the cases where the type of vessel could be identified were Chinese squid jiggers. He also said that this fleet “forges new trade routes, demonstrates its political power, establishes territorial claims and increases China's political influence in the developing world.”

 

 

The Chinese state considers fishing to be a strategic national industry and offers strong support for the highly subsidized expansion of marine operations in distant waters, despite the fact that its fleet has been accused of illegal fishing and poor labor practices.

 

It is therefore not surprising that the SeafoodSource portal reported a ruling by the Eastern country's Supreme Court, which restored public funding (juicy subsidies) to a distant water fishing company accused of dishonesty.

 

 

In Peru, there have been countless encounters between artisanal fishermen and Chinese fishing vessels, in which our seamen claim to have seen them fishing within our jurisdiction. Although some public defenders deny it, for this reason, our State decided in 2020 to set as a condition for foreign vessels, to use Peruvian ports, that they carry on board a simple SISESAT satellite device, the same one required for all national fishing vessels.

 

The owners of the Chinese fleet and their government refused to comply with this basic transparency rule, and pressured the Peruvian authorities to disapply the provision from May 2023.

 

 

Faced with the clamor of the fishing sector in all ports, the government issued Supreme Decree 014-2024-PRODUCE, proclaiming that it was reinstating the obligation that had been left in suspense, but, incredibly, it decided not to apply it, and large Chinese ships continue to enter and leave without carrying satellite equipment on board.

 

At the time of this edition, 20 vessels had flouted the decree with the submissive complacency of our authorities in charge of enforcing it.

 

 

Peru's trade relationship with China in the fishing sector is very fluid and should always be mutually beneficial. That is the supposed spirit of President Xi Jinping's so-called Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to connect China with global markets through infrastructure and trade.

 

However, this stubborn resistance to acting with transparency and putting pressure on a weak, delegitimized government that is unable to control 94 illegal shipyards on the beaches of our coast or to prevent tens of thousands of tons of fish from being processed in unlicensed plants, makes us Peruvians think that we are not selling our conscience for a plate of lentils, or for some wontons, that we are not facing a Belt and Road, but rather a rope that is trying to hang us.

 

 

 

 

 

• Peruvian Government Finally Announces Supreme Decree to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

• El Niño affects squid catch in Peru, reports PRODUCE

• SNI Fishing and Aquaculture Committee: 'I believe Peruvian artisanal fishermen'

 

• Unions demand the resignation of the Minister of Production for failure to keep promises and the uncontrolled presence of the Chinese squid fleet
• IN BRIEF - Artisanal Fishermen: 'The shepherd abandons his sheep to visit the wolf'



• Piura has great export potential in fishing and aquaculture, but must combat illegal fishing and modernize its infrastructure



• The invisible agenda of the giant squid
• IN BRIEF - Artisanal fishermen blame the new Mincetur minister, Úrsula Desilú León Chempén, for facilitating the entry of Chinese vessels



• Peru's artisanal fisheries declare Xi Jinping persona non grata and ask for intervention from President Dina Boluarte



• They denounce that illegal Chinese fleets cost Peru US$300 million



• 'We ask for speed in the regularization of fishing vessels that operate outside of 200 miles



• The deadline imposed by PRODUCE to issue regulations that end the questioned entry of Chinese ships into Peru is running out

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