This is simply terrible.
Nations can't properly coordinate these things. We're going to deplete our oceans, and affect climate in unforeseen ways.
I wish there was something we could do.
Nations can't properly coordinate these things. We're going to deplete our oceans, and affect climate in unforeseen ways.
I wish there was something we could do.
Sure they can, at least in theory and sometimes in practice. The article describes several countries’ navies intercepting the Atlantic Dawn, arresting members of her crew, and convicting them of crimes. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines who can fish where. Many countries vigorously enforce this treaty.
Unfortunately, the ability to regulate overfishing does not imply a willingness to do so, and signatory status to UNCLOS does not imply a willingness to abide by its rules. For instance, the country with world’s largest navy is currently using its sea power to fish in other countries’ waters, in stark violation of the UNCLOS and good environmental sense:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56474847
>Two years ago, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte defended his non-confrontational approach to the maritime dispute with a quip about Chinese President Xi Jinping.
>"When Xi says 'I will fish' who can prevent him?" he said, quoted by the Associated Press. "If I send my marines to drive away the Chinese fishermen, I guarantee you not one of them will come home alive."
If China, the US, and the EU all agreed to enforce UNCLOS and help smaller countries regulate overfishing, they could do it. The technical capabilities exist. The legal frameworks are already in place. It’s a matter of political will.
Not particularly relevant, but this is only true by the metric "number of boats". If you weigh by boat size other countries are much larger.
> The Philippines says the fishing boats do not appear to be fishing and are crewed by China's maritime militia.
There is a specialist EU agency for fisheries inspection (The EFCA located in Vigo, Spain) A lot is being done there to ensure the rules are abided. Placing inspectors on board, tracking the behaviour of the boats, and so on. But of course the budgets of this agency are nowhere near that of the agency for medicine or chemistry, and cheating is easy when you're alone at sea (using hidden compartiments for example).
The European Commission has a Directorate-General for fisheries, which does research on how much fish there is, and negotiates treaties on fisheries quotas with other nations. I believe they have great intentions, but not every one cares about sustainability, and if money talks countries like China can outbid the EU.
Source: My dad was known as the Eliot Ness of fisheries.
1. Introduce tight quotas and enforce them strictly. 2. Only allow imports from nations that follow the same, or a stricter, protocol. 2.a Alternatively, enforce an import quota or prevent imports completely. 3. Measure the effect and adapt quotas if necessary.
Now I am not a marine biologist, but I presume that the areas where quotas are enforced are of utmost importance in that matter. So the difficult part is to get many nations on board and define meaningful areas of the high seas that are then protected.