Biden is targeting China in the new illegal fishing policy framework

Change location while loading article actions

Lisbon, Portugal – The Biden administration is stepping up efforts to combat illegal fishing in China and forcing federal agencies to better coordinate themselves and their foreign partners to promote sustainable exploitation of the world’s oceans.

The White House issued the first National Security Memorandum on Illegal, Unregistered and Unregulated Fishing, or IUU, on Monday, coinciding with the start of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

According to the US Federal Trade Commission, about 11% of total US seafood imports in 2019 came from illegal, unregistered and unregulated fishing worth $ 2.4 billion.

Although China is not mentioned in the long run of politics, its language leaves little doubt as to its purpose. The memorandum will inevitably upset Beijing amid the growing geopolitical rivalry between the two countries. China is a dominant seafood producer and was built with government loans and fuel subsidies. The largest deep-sea fishing fleet in the world, thousands of floating fish are found in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Specifically, the memorandum is aimed at 21 federal departments and agencies to better share information, coordinate law enforcement actions such as visa sanctions and restrictions, and promote best practices among international allies.

In the coming days, it will also follow the new rules of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which broaden the definition of illegal fishing and include worker violations, marking the first step towards the eventual black list of non-compliant flag states.

Conservation groups praised the effort, based on the work initiated under the Obama administration to clean up the seafood supply chains in the United States.

“American fishermen have to abide by many of the US government rules and regulations,” said Beth Lowell, vice president of Oceana, a Washington-based nonprofit. Actions against other countries with poor labor and environmental experience, such as China, will be leveled out and this will benefit legal fishermen around the world. “

The action plan also includes expanding the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which requires importers to provide documentation of where they were caught to ensure illegally caught fish do not invade the United States. Currently, the program includes only a dozen species. Groups like Oceana want program coverage for all imports.

“Unless the United States maintains imports of all seafood to the same standards as fish caught in the United States, illegally harvested seafood will continue to be sold under legal fishing,” Lowell said. He said.

Furthermore, the action plan does not foresee additional resources for the implementation of existing laws.

“Combating IUU fishing requires resources,” said Evan Bloom, a former State Department employee who has negotiated several international fisheries agreements and is now a researcher at the Wilson Center in Washington. “Whether the US is really doing more may be because NOAA is spending more money on law enforcement efforts, intelligence gathering and auditing.”

In Lisbon, where officials and scientists from over 120 countries attended the five-day conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized some countries he did not name because they care about their own economic interests rather than needs. whole planet.

“The international waters are ours,” said Guterres, referring to all the inhabitants of the planet.

The UN hopes the conference will give new impetus to longstanding efforts for a comprehensive ocean deal that includes offshore conservation efforts. Oceans cover about 70% of the earth’s surface and provide food and livelihoods for billions of people. Some activists call them the largest irregular area on the planet.

Known as the Treaty of the High Seas, the agreement is negotiated under the Joint Convention on the Law of the Sea, the main international agreement governing maritime activities.

After 10 years of contract negotiations, still three months ago, the deal is still not visible. The fifth round is scheduled for August in New York.

“The largest ecosystem in the world … it is still vulnerable and dying as we see it,” said activist group Ocean Rebellion.

Guterres said that “significant progress” has been made in the agreement on the high seas and that the world is in a “significant moment” for the future of the oceans.

Guterres urged people to raise their voices and understand, saying, “We have to force people to put pressure on those who make the decisions.”

The UN says the dangers to the oceans include warming and acidity from carbon pollution, massive plastic pollution and other problems. Potentially harmful deep-sea mining also lacks rules.

The conference is also expected to reaffirm and build upon the commitments made by governments at the previous summit held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2018 by starting small island states with ocean economies, sustainable fishing and addressing warming waters.

In addition to the event, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced new $ 50 million grants to help protect 30% of the planet’s earth and seas by 2030. Less than 8% of the ocean is currently divided into areas. as marine protected areas.

More than half of the money donated by Bezos Earth Fun will help organizations working to strengthen the Eastern Tropical Sea Corridor in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama. The four countries joined forces at last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference to announce the creation of a Spanish-sized marine protected area that includes environmental hotspots such as the Galapagos Islands.

The event will be attended by US Ambassador John Kerry and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Goodman reported from Cleveland, Ohio

Follow AP’s full climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

The Associated Press receives climate and environmental protection from various private organizations. More information on the AP Climate Initiative can be found here. Only AP is responsible for all content.

Source: Washington Post

follow:
\