The governments of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peruย issuedย a joint statement Wednesday warning Chinese ships to stop fishing illegally within their sovereign territory.
The South American nations pledged โto prevent, discourage and jointly confrontโ illegal fishing in their exclusive economic zones in the Pacific, explaining that they would boost โcooperation and real-time exchange of informationโ to highlight the issue.
The announcement comes several months after Ecuador complained to Chinese authorities about illegal fishing after Ecuador identified hundreds of Chinese vessels near the Galรกpagos Islands, which are part of the countryโs exclusive economic zone and an ecologically sensitive area.
According to Ecuadorian officials in July, there were at least 260 ships within the islandโs vicinity, all of which disabled their public tracking devices to avoid detection.
โWe are on alert, (conducting) surveillance, patrolling to avoid an incident such as what happened in 2017,โ Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin said at the time.
In response to the complaint, the Chinese regime officially banned all its vessels from fishing near the Galรกpagos from September until the end of November. The new rules have reportedly prompted the Chinese ships to target other areas of the South American coast in the exclusive economic zones of Peru and Chile. Waters off the Colombian coast are also a potential target.
In the 2017 incident referenced by Jarrin, authorities arrested and prosecuted a team of Chinese fishermen illegally holding 6,600 sharks they had caught off the Galรกpagos, causing a diplomatic spat between the two countries. A court found them guilty and sentenced them to between one and four years in jail as well as a $5.9 million fine.
That was not the last time that Chinese vessels were caught violating international law around the Galรกpagos Islands. Last year,ย a fleet of around 250 ships were similarlyย caughtย harvesting large numbers of exotic fish from the Galรกpagos Conservation Zone, a highly sensitive ecological area.
