Illegal and unreported fishing “is happening on an industrial scale” around the globe and the culprit often is China’s subsidized fishing fleet, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said today.
Speaking Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he added, “one in five fish” sold on international markets is illegally caught. Declining fish populations due to climate change and overfishing are having a profound effect on sources of protein in poorer nations’ food supplies, the secretary said.
In his meetings with counterparts in Oceania and other nations, Del Toro said, “violations of their Exclusive Economic Zones rise to the top of their concerns,” as does their need for better maritime awareness of what is happening in their waters to include mineral and energy exploration.
