SYDNEY: Pacific island authorities arrested a number of Chinese and Indonesian boats for illegal fishing this month in a crackdown across the vast ocean, officials have told AFP.
Four vessels were detained or taken to port by authorities in Kiribati, Palau and Papua New Guinea for illegal fishing or breaches of fishing licences, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) said in a statement to AFP.
They included Chinese and Indonesian vessels, according to the statement.
A surveillance crackdown by 11 island nations this month saw more than 100 vessels boarded across 28 million square kilometres of ocean between Aug 3 and 14.
Half of the world's tuna is caught in the region, but only 15 per cent of this catch is processed or handled by Pacific Island countries, fisheries officials said.
The fish generates US$500 million in access fees and $1.2 billion in export earnings for the Pacific islands annually while also supporting the livelihoods of a third of Pacific households, the FFA said.
Most tuna is shipped to Asian markets by the long-distance fleets that ply the exclusive economic zones of small island states for a licence fee.
An annual meeting of 18 Pacific Island leaders beginning Aug 30 in Palau is expected to discuss a new strategy to protect fishing rights and lift revenue as climate change threatens stocks.
The FFA declined to give details of another 16 vessels identified as "of interest" during the two-week Operation Island Chief, which involved aerial surveillance by an Australian military aircraft and patrols by a US Coast Guard vessel and Pacific maritime police.
Authorities in Palau and Papua New Guinea did not respond to requests for comment, while Kiribati's maritime police declined to comment on the operation.
Naming Chinese fishing boats suspected of illegal activity is a sensitive issue in a region where Chinese companies operate large long-distance fleets and have fisheries joint ventures with several Pacific islands.
Last month, Tuvalu authorities arrested a Chinese vessel caught illegally fishing in its waters while transmitting a false location.
Tuvalu holds diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not Beijing.
The Chinese boat was fined and released after 24 days in detention, said Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the conservation vessel Sea Shepherd, which transported the Tuvalu police on maritime patrol.
Between 2008 and 2026, 278 penalty notices were issued to Chinese fishing boats by inspectors for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the second-largest tally behind Taiwan with 319 infringements. - AFP
