The Chinese government has told the US it needs to take a hard look at itself before identifying other nations as being engaged in IUU fishing.
The massage was given during a press briefing by Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning, who stated that there is no legal basis whatsoever for the US to broadly identify a nation for IUU fishing based on activities conducted by a small number of fishing vessels.
‘Such sweeping identification seriously disrupts international fisheries cooperation—nothing but political manipulation,’ Mao Ning stated, commenting that China is a ‘responsible country and deeply committed to science-based conservation and sustainable use of international fisheries resources.’
She claimed that while China exercises the right to develop and use the fisheries resources on the high seas in accordance with relevant international law, it also actively fulfils international obligations, and has put in place a complete system of distant-water fisheries management.
‘We follow the world’s most rigorous steps in vessel position monitoring and management, and we have taken the lead in implementing voluntary fishing moratoriums in certain parts of the high seas and worked with the international community to crack down on IUU fishing,’ Mao Ning said.
‘China has joined eight regional fisheries management organisations including the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and our compliance record has always ranked high in all of those organisations.’
She stated that the US has exceeded catch limits for tuna in western and central Pacific Ocean in violation of relevant international laws over the years.
‘At the recent annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the US was found suspected of 13 IUU fishing activities – more than any other member countries – which involve the fishing of whale sharks and turtles and harming sharks,’ she said, adding that the USA should think seriously about how to put an end to its own IUU activities before levelling allegations at other nations.
