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The General Directorate of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine (Directemar), affirmed that it remains alert to the movement of the fences of 300 ships that make up the Chinese megafleet discovered only 400 nautical miles from Chilean waters.
The vessels correspond to the same ones that were found in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Ecuador and that -apparently- have turned off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), which could be an indication of illicit behavior, such as the crossing of the maritime borders of other nations in the Southern Cone.
Thus, First Lieutenant Simón Stuven, head of Directemar’s Communications Department, warned that the Navy will make arrests in the event of surprising foreign vessels fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
“The seizure of the ship corresponds (…) and later all the antecedents and the corresponding complaint are brought to the Judicial Power,” he said.
Trawling
César Astete, director of the Oceana Chile Fisheries Campaign, expressed his concern about the impact that this type of trawling has on the seas.
“One should tend to be concerned with the number of vessels that make fishing effort on the different fishing populations,” he explained.
It is estimated that almost 17 thousand Chinese vessels operate in international waters, accounting for 40% of the world’s fishing effort. The Asian country also ranks last in the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Index.
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