U.S., Japan, Australia, and India to launch tracking system to monitor illegal fishing by China, Financial Times reports

Authored by reuters.com and submitted by pleasantcompanion
image for U.S., Japan, Australia, and India to launch tracking system to monitor illegal fishing by China, Financial Times reports

Fishing boats with Chinese national flags are seen at a harbour in Tanmen, Hainan province, April 5, 2016. REUTERS/Megha Rajagopalan

May 21 (Reuters) - U.S., Japan, Australia, and India will unveil a maritime initiative at the Quad summit in Tokyo to curb illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing a U.S. official.

The report said that the maritime initiative will use satellite technology to create a tracking system for illegal fishing from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific by connecting surveillance centers in Singapore and India.

U.S. President Joe Biden is visiting Japan to attend the meeting of the Quad group of countries - Australia, India, Japan and the United States in Tokyo- which have increased cooperation in the face of China's growing assertiveness.

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According to the Financial Times report, the maritive initiative will enable these countries to monitor illegal fishing even when the boats have turned off the transponders which are typically used to track vessels.

The U.S.-Indo Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell had said earlier this month that United States will soon announce plans to battle illegal fishing in the U.S. read more

Several countries in the Indo-Pacific region chafe at China's vast fishing fleet. They say its vessels often violate their exclusive economic zones and cause environmental damage and economic losses. read more

Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru Editing by Nick Zieminski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Dubstepvillage on May 22nd, 2022 at 06:04 UTC »

Sorry but this “fishing” is a massive security threat. Look up the People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM). They used vessels like these to land 500 PLA soldiers in the Western Paracel islands. They continuously pester the waters of Vietnam, Japan, the US and more, trying to cause enough of a disturbance to establish de facto Chinese control without triggering responses. There are numerous examples. They are all over the place near Taiwan constantly. Believing all of these vessels are for fishing would be a grave mistake

Fox_Kurama on May 22nd, 2022 at 04:21 UTC »

If they invade your waters, round them up and impound them.

wastingtoomuchthyme on May 22nd, 2022 at 03:29 UTC »

Tragedy of the commons...