GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador - Ecuador’s armed forces said on Tuesday that dozens of vessels from a predominantly Chinese fishing fleet that is operating near the Galapagos Islands have turned off tracking systems to prevent monitoring of their activities.
Of
around 325 ships still fishing in the waters near the ecologically sensitive
Galapagos, 149 have at some point in recent months cut off communications, Navy
Commander, Rear Admiral Darwin Jarrin told reporters.
Some had
also changed the vessels’ names to avoid supervision, he said.
“In this
period, 149 ships have turned off their satellite systems ... we know the name
of the ships,” Jarrin said during a press conference. He declined to identify
the vessels.
The
complaint comes as the South American nation is seeking to prevent
unsustainable fishing off its coast while also avoiding a confrontation with
China, its largest financier and a major market for its shrimp export business.
A
representative of the Chinese embassy declined to comment.
Ecuador
says the fleet has not entered its territorial waters. But environmentalists
say this type of fishing allows vessels to take advantage of the abundant
marine wildlife that travels in the waters between the Galapagos and the
mainland.
“It is a
breach (of protocol) on the high seas, because they do not want us to know what
they are doing and the activities they carry out,” said Defense Minister
Oswaldo Jarrin.
He said
turning off satellite equipment violated rules created by Regional Fisheries
Management Organizations (RFMOs), a group of international agencies that
promote sustainable fishing.
The New
Zealand-based South Pacific RFMO, one of the organizations that provides
guidance on fishing practices in the area, did not immediately respond to an
email seeking comment.
Since
2017, the Chinese fishing fleet has arrived in the summer months to the
outskirts of the Galapagos protected area, attracted by marine species such as
the giant squid or the hammerhead shark, the latter of which is threatened
species.
China
has promised a “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal fishing, and it has
authorized the Andean country to supervise the vessels.
It has
also proposed a fishing moratorium in the area near the Galapagos between
September and November, though the fleets usually leave the area before that
period begins.
***Reporting
by Yuri Garcia, writing by Alexandra Valencia and Brian Ellsworth; Editing by
Aurora Ellis