Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Perú join forces over illegal Chinese fishing fleets in South America

Four South American countries have joined forces in a bid to combat illegal fishing by huge Chinese fleets off their coasts.

Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have threatened measures “to prevent, discourage and jointly confront” illegal fishing near their exclusive economic zones in the Pacific.

The joint statement made no specific mention of China but environmental groups Greenpeace and Oceana have repeatedly warned of the growing presence of  Chinese fishing fleets in the area.

The South American quartet said they would boost “cooperation and real-time exchange of information” to highlight the illegal fishing.

Ecuador in July complained to China over a 300 vessel fleet off Galapagos, saying around half of them had turned off their tracking systems so they could not be located.

Beijing in early August banned its vessels from fishing near the Galapagos from September to November this year.

The Chinese fleet instead headed south through international waters to fish near the exclusive economic zones of Peru and Chile, according to NGO Oceana.

Oceana has accused the Chinese of “pillaging” the waters off the Galapagos, primarily for squid, thereby depriving some species in the waters of the protected archipelago – including fur seals and hammerhead sharks – of their essential diet.