Beijing rebuts charges of illegal fishing

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday refuted a United States government report that groundlessly accused China of engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or IUU fishing, saying the report is "nothing but political manipulation "that will seriously disrupt international cooperation on fisheries.

In its biennial report to the US Congress last week, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries identified seven nations and entities, including China, for IUU fishing.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Mao said that according to international law and customary international practice, the subjects of IUU activities are fishing vessels and the IUU activities of individual fishing vessels should not be attributed to their countries.

"There is no legal basis whatsoever for the US to broadly identify a nation for IUU fishing based on the activities conducted by a small number of fishing vessels," she said.

The spokeswoman said that China is a responsible country deeply committed to science-based conservation and sustainable use of international fisheries resources and has worked with the international community to crack down on IUU fishing.

Following rigorous steps

According to Mao, China follows the world's most rigorous steps in vessel position monitoring and management, and has taken the lead in implementing voluntary fishing moratoriums in certain parts of the high sea.

"By contrast, the US has exceeded catch limits for tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean in violation of relevant international laws over the years," Mao said.

Moreover, she noted that at the recent annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the US was suspected of 13 IUU fishing activities — more than any other member country — which involve the fishing of whale sharks and turtles.

"Before identifying other nations as engaged in IUU fishing without valid reasons, the US needs to first of all take a hard look at itself and think seriously about how to stop the IUU fishing activities of its own fishing vessels," Mao said.