The Chinese Government's Weak Effort to Control Illegal Fishing

 

Illegal fishing in China is posing a significant problem for the government, and is not only creating a rift in ties with Korea and Vietnam, but also demonstrates some of the weaknesses in the government to control its own people. Korea is becoming frustrated with the Chinese government because the amount of Chinese fishermen without permits, and who fish in neighboring waters are increasing. Not only are these fishermen illegal, but they are also extremely violent and tend to fight with the Coast Guards who attempt to arrest them. The crewmembers are non-hesitant to pick up metal pipes, axes, knives, and other weapons to use against the Coast Guard. There is said to be nearly 10,000 Chinese fishing boats that cross into South Korean territory, and of those boats only about 1,700 have permits. The other 8,300 are illegal fishermen that swing nets across two boats to gather fish and equipment.

            The aggressive behavior between Chinese fishermen and Coast Guard is increasing drastically. The Coast Guard members who board ships are constantly being attacked by the crew, resulting in the injury of 53 Koreans over the past 10 years, and one death in 2008. In order to further enhance the uprising efforts, numerous Chinese fishermen band together to try and defeat Coast Guard crews who come to arrest them. The Chinese government has made little effort to suppress its own people, and lacks rules to stop the fishing in neighboring countries. It seems as if China has been uninterested for years in the illegal fishing, and has now been put under pressure by Korea to make amendments.

            Although the Korean government lacks sufficient patrol teams to suppress these uprisings of fishermen, they are beginning to beef up their squads with extra patrol teams, heavier body armor, and the use of firearms when in danger. Another source states that the special force Coast Guard members will be equipped with Tasers, grenade launchers, and tear gas canisters.  In addition, the patrol teams will be stricter when apprehending the fishermen, and will confiscate their equipment.

Many fishermen who have been caught and paid hefty fines (70 million won) tend to come back out anyway. Recently the fines have increased to 100 million won, but have had little effect. It is clear that the fines imposed by the Chinese government are too lenient.  The possible reason for the spike in illegal fishing is that the Chinese resources are depleted due to overfishing, which again shows another reason why the Chinese government has not been regulating its own people. The government has made a lackadaisical effort in the past to regulate fisherman, put caps on the amount of fish that could be caught, and the amount of time in between fishing trips. Many countries have strict Coast Guard control, as well as strict measures to prevent fishermen from going out to sea and fishing every day.  The Chinese government’s lack of past effort has not only been a primary reason for the depletion of resources in the country, but also for the spike in illegal fishing in Korea.

Korea has recently asked China seven times since November to stop Chinese fishermen from entering and performing illegal behavior in Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone, however China brushed off these complaints. China merely said that these fishermen were unregistered, and therefore could not be tracked down. The Chinese government does an extremely poor job in enforcing the law and controlling their fishermen. The mere fact that numerous fishermen are unregistered shows lack of discipline, and China ignoring Korea’s pleas show their general lack of interest in the subject.

Finally, China sent an official letter to the South Korean Embassy stating that they agree to step up patrols in the Yellow Sea (Korean territory) in order to stop illegal fishing in their waters. China stated they will provide stricter supervision and punishment for fishing illegally. After numerous pleas, and years of conflict over international waters, China finally decided it was in their best interest to maintain relations with Korea, and enforce laws regarding illegal fishing.

Vietnam has been putting pressure on the Chinese government as well because on February 22, eleven Vietnamese fishermen were denied entrance to the Paracel Islands to avoid strong winds, but were then beaten and looted by the Chinese officers. It is not uncommon to have Vietnamese and Chinese people fishing alongside each other, seeing as much of their territory in the South China Sea overlaps, however Chinese officers used unnecessary force against the Vietnamese fishermen who were accused of fishing illegally, causing a rift between the two governments. Chinese Foreign Ministry denied the claim, and stressed that no force was used to enforce the law. The peculiar thing about this incident is that China heavily enforces their own waters for illegal fishing, but does not instruct their own people to stay out of other countries’ water. China is unafraid to expel foreigners from their waters by any means, which comes off as being unethical in terms of treatment of others, whereas Vietnam and Korea use more ethical standards to handle illegal fishing in their countries.

The Chinese government is in dire need to address the illegal fishing situation that is running rampant through China. The government should focus more of their resources in controlling the people of China, and maintaining relationships with neighboring countries. This situation, if unattended, may cause major difficulties between the two countries.