DESTINATIONS
ASSAULT ON GALÁPAGOS BY C H I N A’ S I N D U ST R I A L F I S H I N G F L E E T S BY SID DOBRIN
PHOTO BY KIMBERLYSHAVENDER / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
About 600 miles west of the Republic of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, the iconic Galápagos Islands straddle the equator surrounded by one of the most biodiverse regions of ocean in the world. While the Galápagos Islands were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, the 27,000 square miles of ocean surrounding the islands were designated as a marine reserve in 1986; that created the second largest marine reserve in the world, second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. More than 20% of the species native to Galápagos waters are unique to that region, found nowhere else on the planet. The Galápagos fall under the sovereignty of the Republic of Ecuador, and despite Ecuador’s efforts to protect the region, industrial fishing fleets historically have harvested the rich waters around Galápagos. However, the 2020 harvest signaled a heightened concern from both Ecuador and international marine advocacy and conservation groups when one of the largest fishing fleets recorded was observed fishing the region. From July 13, 2020, through Aug. 13, 2020, the international marine conservation and advocacy organization Oceana monitored more than 300 Chinese vessels operating just outside the Ecuadorian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surrounding the Galápagos archipelago. Using data gathered through a global mapping tool provided by the NGO Global
Fishing Watch in cooperation with Google, Oceana researchers began monitoring the massive Chinese fleet when it arrived around the Galápagos Islands. According to Oceana Illegal Fishing and Transparency Analyst Marla Valentine, it is not unusual for Chinese vessels to fish the waters around the Galápagos Islands each year. However, what makes this year’s observations worrisome was the extensive size of the fleet. The sheer numbers of vessels in the region, Valentine explains, was an “intense event for us.” According to Valentine, the U.S. and EU distant water fleets (DWF) are each only approximately 300 vessels. So, for a single nation like China to have a flotilla larger than the entire U.S. fleet, then have it deployed to one region, signaled concern for Oceana.
Recent research published by the Londonbased research organization Overseas Development Institute (ODI) estimates the Chinese DWF at over 3,000 vessels. Other estimates published by media sites like Science X and phys.org claim the Chinese DWF may be as large as 17,000 vessels. Oceana researchers observed vessels migrating to the Galápagos Islands from all around the Pacific, forming the massive fleet of more than 300. According to Valentine, her team worked to “assess the intensity of the fishing that was taking place in the region and where this fleet was coming from and going to.” “We knew that they were there fishing,” Valentine says, “and using Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), we were really able to catalog and categorize what these GHOF.org | 75
