Government of Ecuador uses Canadian technology to monitor illegal and unreported fishing Yes unregulated (INN) of the fleet fishery China In the zone of the Galapagos Islands. A early June from 2022, the government detected nail 180 Chinese ships near the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the islands, fishing the giant squid Yes threatening the biodiversity and the economy of the countries of the region.

The Ecuadorian Navy carries out constant patrols to prevent vessels from fishing in the protected area. “While you are vessels are far from the island EEZ, more than 100 miles, we monitor it in satelite”, Rear Admiral John Merlo León, cCommander of Naval Operations of the Ecuadorian Navy, said al Ecuadorian television channel Teleamazone.

Space technology company MDA, based in Brampton, Ontario, provides satellite tracking, remote sensing, and the ability to synthesize large amounts of data to Ecuadorian Navyreported Canada’s public broadcaster Radio Canada. With tens of thousands of industrial fishing vessels operating in the world’s oceans, identifying illicit operators is like looking for a “needle in a haystack”, he said. Radio Canada Mark Carmichael, Senior Executive at MDA. In mid-September 2021, Ecuador and Canada signed a cooperation agreement to locate and track in real time through the satellites the “dark ships”, whose localization transponders are turned off.

Ecuadorian authorities have also requested assistance from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Other organisations, including the monitoring group Global Fisheries Monitoring, supported by Googleto offerhaving dinner support at GGovernment of Ecuador, interpreting vessel movements, including fishing operations in prohibited areas, reported Radio Canada.

“I find it very positive that Ecuador has this type of agreement with companies or countries that collaborate in technological systems to detect these fleets, as is the case with Canada,” he said. Dialogue Milko Schvartzman, Argentinian specialist in marine conservation and member of the NGO Circle of Environmental Policieswhich aims to strengthen the agenda the environment and promote the protection of ecosystems. “There is a need for countries to use different systems with different vendors and have their own capability to analyze, track and monitor these fleets,” added Schvartzmann.

impacts

Illegal fishing by the Chinese fleet around the Galapagos Islands has various impacts. The first is the environmental impact. “This fleet is not regulated, it does not appear before any authority and it has no observers on board. Thus, no one knows exactly how much he is fishing, since the information is only provided by the captain, without any type of control,” he said. Schvartzmann.

It is also not known in which areas the vessels are fishing, what is the size of the specimens caught and what are the fishing discards. “That is why there is a very severe impact on the species (in this case, the giant squid), and above all the marine ecosystem,” said the expert. The level of pollution in the oceans is also not known. By failing to comply with any environmental regulations, the Chinese fleet generates tons of waste of all kinds every day, Schvartzman said.

“There is also an economic impact on the coastal communities of South American countries, since the Chinese fleet is subsidized by its flag state and competes in markets, catching the same species as the artisanal vessels of Peru and of Ecuador capture,” he added. “And there is an impact on human rights, since the crews of this Chinese fleet are mainly Indonesian, Filipino or from African countries who work in conditions of semi-slavery”, affirmed Schvartzmann.

The solutions

The andexperts They say greater mobilization by the international community is needed to prevent overfishing.“We need to work on a global agreement to protect the biodiversity of international waters,” said Alexander Hearn, professor of biological and environmental sciences at the University ofad Saint Francis of Quitoa Teleamazone. In mid-June, the World Trade Organization reached a historic agreement to end subsidies harmfulit’s fishing. The agreement, a step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, creates a global framework that limits IUU fishing subsidies.

Schvartzman offers various solutions to the problem. One is “Whatthat each vessel has observers on board and respects the minimum international norms and standards for working conditions and safety on board, which do not exist today,” Schvartzman said.

Transhipment on the high seas, which today is carried out completely stealthily, should also be regulated, said the specialist. JHe also says that there should be one ship register, that is, there should be one name and one license plate. “Today, the Chinese fleet uses sister ships, with the same names and registration numbers to hide their activities,” he added. he claimed.

“The permanent activation of global positioning systems in these ships should also be mandatory. As we know, the Chinese fleet puts them out all the time,” Schvartzman added.