Peru ended 2024 with yet another stand against Chinese illegal fishing, this time granting the Peruvian Armed Forces the “legitimate use of force” to combat illicit maritime activities.
The decision came following a tumultuous year for Peru, as the Andean country faced what a local artisanal fishermen association described as the “worst year for the fishing industry,” the Andrés Bello Foundation, a Latin American research center on China, indicated in a report. According to the National Society of Artisanal Fisheries of Peru (SONAPESCAL), the drop in squid exports, directly linked to the Chinese fishing fleet’s indiscriminate and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the country, Argentine news site Infobae reported. The giant squid is Peru’s largest artisanal fishery and is critical to the local economy.
“This is the worst crisis in the last 25 years since the squid began to be exploited in significant volumes in Peru,” said Alfonso Miranda, president of the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Giant Squid of the South Pacific (Calamasur), Spanish fisheries magazine Industrias Pesqueras reported in early December. According to Miranda, the situation has led to the paralysis of processing plants, which will continue to cause a significant drop in exports, while affecting the livelihood of some 20,000 fishermen and their families who depend on this resource in Peru.
China has the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, with more than 17,000 fishing vessels, according to experts. Some 400 to 600 vessels continuously navigate close to the exclusive economic zones of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, and Uruguay to fish for squid, often entering territorial waters illegally and challenging authorities, while they plunder the marine ecosystem, Infobae reported.
Fighting back
One of Peru’s latest initiatives to combat Chinese illegal fishing, which Congress approved in October, establishes procedures for the use of force by the National Maritime Authority (Dicapi) under the purview of the Peruvian Armed Forces, in its role in the fight against illegal fishing in national waters. The initiative proposes the legitimate use of force in defense of life, society, and the State, in accordance with Peru’s laws.
“The objective is to combat, for example, problems such as illegal fishing, and to promote the detection of foreign vessels in the Peruvian sea that do not have the corresponding authorization,” said Peruvian Congresswoman Adriana Tudela Gutiérrez, according to a Peruvian Congress statement.
A month prior, the Peruvian government enacted a legislative decree, establishing measures to prevent and eliminate IUU fishing. Among the key points of the decree is a new control system using satellite positioning signals, operated by the Peruvian Navy, for foreign-flagged fishing vessels. The satellite tracking system for fishing vessels, SISESAT, will be required to be installed on foreign-flagged vessels through the Foreign Trade Single Window (VUCE).
“VUCE is an integrated system that, through electronic means, allows the parties involved in foreign trade and international transportation to exchange the required or relevant information for the entry, exit, or transit of goods and means of transportation to or from the Peruvian national territory,” explained fisheries magazine We Are Aquaculture.
“This regulation, which prevents and avoids illegal fishing, aims to establish specific conditions so that foreign vessels fishing outside our 200 miles, when entering our maritime space for activities such as repairs, crew changes, provisions, or any other reason, comply with this regulation,” said Minister of Production Sergio González in a statement on the website of the Peruvian Ministry of Production (PRODUCE), which oversees fishing activities and combats IUU fishing.
In early November, PRODUCE and the Peruvian Navy signed an agreement to acquire and equip two patrol boats that will strengthen maritime security by improving the capacity to control and inspect national and international fishing vessels. The new patrol boats, equipped with advanced technology and state-of-the-art equipment, will allow for various operations to be carried out, including surveillance and control of maritime traffic, as well as the protection of fishing resources and the fight against narcotrafficking, PRODUCE said in a statement.
“We always welcome the fact that different government institutions are working in a coordinated manner against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, as is the case in Peru,” Global Fishing Watch Communications said in a statement to Diálogo. “[…] We believe that all these measures contribute to better monitoring and conservation of marine resources.”
