Huihui Shen, Shuolin Hung

a School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

bCollege of Marine Culture and Law, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

Keywords:

Distant water fisheries

IUU fishing

China

Regulations and policies

ABSTRACT

China's distant water fisheries (DWF) have made considerable progress since its entering into this industry in the 1980s. Though great efforts have been made to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities, there are still repeated IUU cases reported or documented by regional fisheries bodies and coastal countries. This article starts with an introduction to the latest development in China's policies and practices in the past three decades, followed by an attempt to explore the reasons behind this haunting IUU problem. It is found that lack of concrete regulatory measures, ineffective policy implementation, and insufficient supervision and control are the main impediments to eliminate the on-going IUU problem. Therefore, the authors suggest fishery authorities in China have stronger willingness and determination to impose stricter supervision and control on DWF industry, but at the same time, gives more concern to fishermen by offering training courses to raise their awareness of law compliance and mitigate motivations to commit infraction. Only in such way would China promote healthy and sustainable development of DWF, and become a responsible major fishing nation as it aims to be.

1.Introduction

In the past few decades, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)fishing has been one of the global issues that cast a shadow on the sustainable development of marine fisheries (UNGA, 1999). IUU fishing activities, according to FAO, mainly include: 1. Illegal fishing: activities conducted by national or foreign vessels fishing in waters under the jurisdiction of a State, without the permission of the host State, or activities by vessels of member countries of a regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) that have violated the conservation and management measures adopted by that organization or relevant provisions of international laws; 2. Unreported fishing: fishing activities that have not been reported, or have been misreported or falsely reported to the national or regional authority; 3. Unregulated fishing:fishing activities that have be conducted by vessels without nationality,or by those flying the flag of a State not party to that organization, in a manner inconsistent with State responsibilities for the conservation of living marine resources under international laws (FAO, 2001).

According to a report published in 2009, the annual IUU catch worldwide amounts to 11 million to 26 million tons, with estimated economic losses between $10 billion and $23.5 billion (Agnew et al.,2009). However, those estimates were made a decade ago and so far have yet to be updated due to its difficulty in collecting accurate data in IUU fishing. Lack of precise catch data impedes scientists' assessment of stock status, and thus puts fish stocks under additional fishing pressure.Generally speaking, IUU fishing poses a serious threat to the conservation and sustainable development of fish stocks, and degrades the vulnerable marine ecosystems. It does not only undermine the efforts of conservation and management measures of fishery management organizations, but also produce adverse impacts on fishermen's livelihoods and global food security, which lead to constant calls from the international community on countries to cooperate at the global, regional,sub-regional and national levels to work together to combat IUU fishing activities.

The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of China's efforts on combatting IUU fishing in its distant water fisheries and to explore tentatively what could be further done to deter, if not completely eliminate, IUU fishing and enhance the compliance with international and regional management instruments.

2.International instruments to combat IUU fishing

Under the legal framework of the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

(UNCLOS), there have been a variety of international instruments, either legally binding or voluntary, implemented in the past few decades to combat IUU fishing (Table 1).

Table 1International instruments to combat IUU fishing.

Table 1 (continued)

In 2001, FAO developed and adopted the

International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

(IPOA-IUU), which aims to provide comprehensive, effective and transparent action measures, including the establishment of regional fisheries management organizations by international laws to crack down on IUU fishing practices (FAO, 2001). In order to further curb the development of IUU fishing activities, and conscious of the role of Port States in providing a powerful and cost-effective means of preventing,deterring and eliminating IUU fishing (FAO, 2016), the FAO Conference has adopted a legally binding international instrument, i.e. the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The agreement has entered into force by 2016. As of June 2019, 61 countries have ratified the agreement and become PSMA parties (FAO, 2019). Hence increasing number of countries refuse to grant entry to IUU fishing vessels.

Also, the United Nations in its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals explicitly state that, one of the goals is “to effectively regulate harvesting and end over fishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics by 2020” (SDG 14.4).

In April 2017, Voluntary Guidelines for Catch Documentation Schemes (VGCDS) has been adopted at the expert consultation on the catch documentation schemes. This scheme aims to track catches from marine or freshwater waters through an electronic system which primarily involves verified information on vessels involved in fishing activities. Each vessel has been assigned a unique identification number(UVI) as its unique identity. The UVI remains the same regardless of any change made to the name, ownership or flag of the vessel. Therefore,catches of each vessel could been tracked to prevent illegal catch products from entering into the global market (FAO, 2015).

In December 2017, the UN General Assembly resolution on sustainable fisheries proclaims the date of June 5 the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, in order to draw the attention to the threats posed by IUU fishing to the sustainable use of fisheries resources.And June 5, 2018 became the first international day to combat IUU fishing.

The above-mentioned actions, plans, agreements and targets indicate that IUU fishing has become a great concern for the international society, and there have been stronger determination from organizations and institutions to combat IUU and commit to the sustainable development of fisheries.

3.IUU fishing in China's distant water fisheries

Despite its late involvement in distant water fisheries, China has witnessed sound development in both volume and production in this industry in the past three decades. According to FAO statistics, the total amount of marine catch in 2016 was 79.3 million tons worldwide, of which about one- fifth came from China (FAO, 2018a; 2018b). The production of China's distant water fisheries reached 1.98 million tons in 2016, accounting for 13% of total marine production, an increase of 78% compared with that in 2010 (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries Administration, 2017). The main target species are tuna, squid, mackerel, saury and Antarctic krill. By the end of 2016, there were 162 distant water fishing (DWF) enterprises nationwide (an increase of 46% compared with 2010), and 2874 DWF vessels (of which 2571 were active), mainly by longline, purse seine and trawling,on waters of 42 States and regions, in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic waters.

As one of the world's major distant water fisheries countries, China is committed to play a responsible role (Pauly & Froese, 2012) in this industry by joining international agreements and treaties step by step, and it has taken an increasingly active and cooperative role in RFMOs(Mallory, 2012, Blomeyer et al., 2012). In the 2018

State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture

(SOFIA), FAO affirms the contribution of China's aquaculture industry to the sustainable development of world fisheries, and also gives positive comments on its data collection and statistics (FAO, 2018a; 2018b). Also in the 16th Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Compliance Committee, China got a full score of 100 in its compliance performance (IOTC, 2019, p. 65),which means its tuna vessels have complied strictly with the management measures implemented in IOTC waters.Despite the improvement in the compliance performance, IUU cases of Chinese DWF vessels are still reported in some waters. Greenpeace points out in a 2015 report that the irresponsible fishing activities of Chinese fishery companies,

inter alia

, vessel gross tonnage fraud,destructive fishing gears, unlicensed fishing activities, fishing in prohibited areas, have seriously undermined the long-term sustainability of fisheries in West African (Greenpeace, 2015). Due to the opacity of bilateral agreements with coastal countries and loose regulation of fisheries authorities, distant water fishing companies tend to bypass regional and international fisheries regulations and conduct IUU fishing.It is a common practice for its vessels to conduct over fishing in the high seas and foreign exclusive economic zones (Greenpeace, 2015). This report, to certain extend, expresses the concerns of the international community for China's distant water fisheries. Meanwhile, some scholars have pointed out that the management of China's DWF is not as strict than in its domestic fisheries (Chen et al., 2006). Some fishing vessels have multiple IUU fishing records, yet have not been penalized accordingly (Zhang & Wu, 2017) (Shen & Heino, 2014).

Due to the depletion of inshore and offshore fishery resources, many fishermen have turned to DWF without any DWF experience and expertise. Some have not received proper training, lacking operation skills, unable to fill logbooks correctly, and a considerable number of fishermen have problems to communicate with inspectors from foreign countries, which always leads to misunderstanding and sometimes disputes.

In 2016, a DWF vessel in China named “Lu Yuanyang Yu 010” was suspected of conducting IUU fishing in Argentine waters and refused to cooperate with Argentine police by attempting to flee to the high seas despite of the warning shots from the coast guard. It has finally been fired and sank into water. In February 2018, another fishing vessel “Jing Yuan Yu 626” from the same fishery company operated in the adjacent water of Argentine EEZ, and has been again warned and dispelled by Argentine Coast Guard.

In general, IUU fishing activities of Chinese vessels are not only detrimental to the sustainable development of the distant water fisheries, but also stain the image of its flag State as a responsible fishing participator.

4.China's fishery regulatory framework to combat IUU fishing

Fisheries Bureau in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairsis responsible for the management of distant water fisheries. Its main functions include drafting, implementation and supervision of fisheries laws, regulations and provisions, inspection and management of fishing activities, fishing vessels and crews, participating in the negotiation and adoption of international fishery treaties and multilateral and bilateral fishery agreements etc.

4.1.Fisheries law as a guiding principle

China's

Fisheries Law

is now under its fifth amendment since entering into force in 1986. As can be seen from the past revisions, China has generally adopted an encouraging attitude towards distant water fisheries by offering financial supports and tax exemptions. Although environmental protection and ecological civilization are receiving more and more attention, economic development and the safe supply of food are still the top priorities on the government's policy list (Cao et al.,2017, p. 435). According to its revised draft, clear statements of severe and clear penalties, such as confiscation of illegal fishing gears and fines have been added in the part of Fishery Supervision to replace the vague words of “investigation and handling” in case of law violation. According to the revised version, penalty for violation of law has been increased by 5—10 times, reaching as high as 1 million RMB (about 143800 USD). In addition, the revised draft proposes the principle of ecological priority for the first time, provides compensation for reduction of motor power and decrease in vessel numbers, and encourages fishermen to look for other work opportunities by offering training courses. Also, there are relevant penalty provisions for exceeding of fishing quotas, illegal shipbuilding, forgery and alteration of ship numbers, and other non-compliance fishing activities. As a guiding legal principle, the new provisions amended in

Fisheries Law

will greatly raise the cost of law violation as a deterrence for IUU fishing activities.

4.2.Distant water fishery supervisory regulation as the key implementation policy

The

Distant Water Fishery Supervisory Regulation

was firstly introduced in 2003 with an objective to conserve and sustainably use marine fishery resources and promote the healthy development of offshore fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture, 2003). In order to strengthen governance of fishing activities, the regulation has been under revision since 2017. The revised version has not yet been officially published. According to the revised draft released on the Ministry of Agriculture official website (Ministry of Agriculture, 2017b), there have been requests on increase in reporting frequency from twice a year to once every month of fishery production, including catches, major species and production value, to facilitate the fishery authorities decision-making process. An expert review mechanism has been introduced for DWF vessel construction projects (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,2018a). Every construction project is subject to feasibility assessment by experts and professionals. Vessels to fish on the high seas should apply for a specific high seas fishing license in accordance with the regulations, which specifies the fishing area, the main target species and the permitted fishing time and the characteristics of the fishing vessel.Vessel applied must operate in line with the requirements of the fishing license. Also, the revised draft replaced the vague language of “… to suspend or cancel the DWF qualifications depending on the seriousness of cases and the size of the impact”, by specifying the non-compliance activities and relevant punishment (Table 2). The regulation, for the first time, introduces the precautionary principle, and blacklists non-compliance project managers and skippers so that they would no longer engage in DWF.

Table 2Newly added provisions in the 2017 Distant Water Fishery Supervisory Regulation(Revised Draft).

In December 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the 13th

Five-Year National Plan for China DWF Development

, calling for slowdown of DWF development (zero-growth of enterprise number), strict control of fishing vessel scale (vessel number not exceeding 3000 in 2020),transformation and upgrading of DWF industry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2018e). Meanwhile, the plan requires the government to enhance regulation of overseas fishing activities.

Apart from Fisheries Law and the supervisory regulation, there are specific measures and guidelines for vessel registration, issuing of fishing license, vessel crew management etc., which set requirements for different aspects of fishing activities (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.Regulatory framework of DWF.

5.China's practice to combat IUU

In the past decade, China has participated actively in international fisheries management. It is now the member of seven regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs), and has signed fishery agreements or memorandum of understanding with eight coastal countries, in which terms and conditions of access to fishing in coastal countries' EEZs have been specified. Also, it has taken into effect some substantial policies and measures to deter and combat illegal fishing activities, including:

5.1.Mandatory installation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS)

Since January 1st, 2011, all DWF vessels are required to install satellite-based vessel monitoring systems which should remain in continuous operation at all times at sea and in all areas (Ministry of Agriculture, 2010), so that fishery authorities are able to track the activities by data automatically sent from the systems. The installation of VMS is a prerequisite for companies to apply for DWF projects and enjoy favourable national fiscal policies. For vessels not allowed to install VMS by coastal countries, automatic identification system (AIS) shall be put in place to inform the fishery authorities the vessel position of no less than 6 times per fishing day (Ministry of Agriculture, 2012a). Systems can't be switched off either by skippers or by crew members, and alerts are sent automatically once vessels approach boundaries and closed areas of coastal countries. Any vessels that have been reported to remove, dismantle, or switch off the system, report false data or change vessel registration information would result in deduction offiscal subsidies of a whole year (Ministry of Agriculture, 2014).

5.2.Blacklist system

In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) issued a blacklist of DWF practitioners for the first time (Ministry of Agriculture, 2017a). DWF project managers and skippers with non-compliance activities in the past 2 years are on the list. The blacklisted managers shall not be in charge of any DWF projects or engage in DWF industry within 3 years,and the blacklisted skippers on the list have been withdrawn their crew certificates and shall not be employed in distant water fisheries within 5 years. Once certificates being revoked, skippers have to take and pass a series of tests and exams before re-entering into the DWF industry,which is almost impossible for someone who have been away for 5 years.In other words, once being blacklisted, they may stay away from the DWF industry for life.

5.3.Reduction of government subsidies

In 2006, China started to provide fuel subsidies as a way to gain a competitive edge in the DWF industry. Fishing vessels can apply for subsidies at the beginning of each year based on their compliance performance in the previous year. However, to certain extent this policy leads to unregulated capacity expansion and over fishing. Having gradually realized the adverse impacts from direct subsidies, the government began to selectively cut subsidies by structural reforms in fisheries. Fuel subsidies have been replaced by financial supports to the modernization and renewal of fishing vessels, via vessel scrapping programs and vessel standardization programs (Ministry of Finance, 201). At the same time,suspension and deduction of subsidies are taken as a way of punishment for illegal fishing. From 2016 till now, 78 DWF companies and 264 illegal fishing vessels have been deducted or suspended their fuel subsidies of 700 million

yuan

(102 million US dollars) in total.

5.4.Improvement in data collection and reporting

A hierarchical reporting system has been implemented for the collection of fishery data in China. Production data of catch, species and production value from DWF are collected and reported to Fishery Administration Bureau in MARA, mainly from squid, tuna, mackerel and Antarctic krill fisheries. The SOFIA confirms the improvement of data collection and reporting quality in China, but also points out that species and fishing areas have not been classified for some catches (FAO, 2018a;2018b) and still need further improvement. In recent years, piloting electronic logbooks have been adopted in tuna and squid fisheries to provide traceable and reliable fishing data. In addition, ten fishing port clusters are under construction to collect fishing data comprehensively and to facilitate vessel management at port (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2018d).

5.5.Increase in observer coverage

To ensure vessels' compliance with fishing rules and regulations, an increasing number of RFMOs have adopted observer programs with requirements of coverage ranging from 5 to 10%, some even as high as 50% in target fisheries.Observers are sent on board fishing vessels to record and report fishing activities and vessel positions, which serves as an effective tool to combat IUU activities. China started its national observer program in the tuna fishery in 2001, with observers mainly from graduate schools, universities and research institutes. They are equipped with professional knowledge and expertise in the use of equipment. However, their engagement in observer programs only lasts as long as they graduate from school or complete their research projects.From time to time, there is a supply shortage between the experienced observers. Since 2016, MoA has established a national observer talent pool to recruit potential candidates from places other than universities and institutes and train them into professional observers (Ministry of Agriculture, 2016b). The

Regulation for the Administration of National Observers for Distant Water Fisheries

has been in effect since 2017 as the basis for the implementation of national observer programs. In tuna fisheries, observers have been dispatched to fishing vessels, which usually are selected by lots drawing.

5.6.Training for skippers and crew members

Due to the high personnel mobility in the fishing industry, many newly recruited crew members are poorly educated and have little or limited knowledge of fishery laws and regulations. The China Distant Water Fisheries Association, together with Shanghai Ocean University,offers regular training courses for skippers and program managers to enhance their awareness of international and domestic fishery laws and regulations. International organizations such as IUCN, ISSF, and Bird International have been invited to provide the latest information on international regulations, selective fishing, the latest technology on bycatch mitigation and safe release of prohibited species etc., as well as lectures on fisheries laws of coastal countries. For example, in August 2016, the Tuna Working Group held a symposium on the mitigation of seabird bycatch, and invited Bird International to provide seabird bycatch identification guide and technic for fishery program managers and skippers. In December 2016, a compliance workshop has been held in Fiji for personnel in China DWF bases there. Non-government representatives such as the Tuna Program and the Active Protection Wildlife Promotion Project participated in this workshop to introduce the experiences and latest technology in the mitigation of shark, seabird and sea turtle bycatch, as well as the correct way offilling fishery logbooks and the development of electronic fishing logs.

Overall, China has established monitoring, control and surveillance system, like annual review of each fishing vessel performance, sanction scheme, fishing license system, VMS, logbook, monthly catch report(weekly report for BFT), national observer program, by-catch regulation, CDS and market-related measures, compliance training to ensure the compliance of fishing vessels, accompanied by severe penalty measures including fines, suspension or termination of fishing license,cancelation of qualification etc. to deter IUU fishing activities.

In 2016, two vessels (

Da Yang 15

and

Da Yang 16

.) were found being engaged in illegal fishing activities in the WCPO water without authorization from the Chinese government. Offending detected included unlicensed fishing, misreporting of southern Blue fin tuna as bigeye tuna,non-reporting of shark catch, no functioning VMS unit, no required seabird mitigation (WCPFC, 201a). Actions taken by Chinese government included: 1. the company owning the vessels had been permanently disqualified from the relevant register; 2.

the owner of the company was no longer permitted to work in any business related to distant water fishing activity; 3. the fishing licences for all ten (10) vessels owned by the company had been suspended or relevant registration cancelled; 4. the captain's certificate for all captains had been permanently revoked; 5. the maximum penalty of $300,000 had been imposed on both vessels (WCPFC, 2017b).

In February 2018, MARA disclosed for the first time the notification of penalties for illegal DWF companies and vessels (Table 3). The companies notified about their cancellation of annual fuel subsidies and some had their operating licenses revoked. Skippers of the IUU vessels were blacklisted and shall not engage in fishing within five years. By October 2018, the number of DWF companies in China has decreased to 159 from 167 in 2015, the number of operating fishing vessels to 2491 from 2512 in 2015, and 243 skippers have been fined or withdrawn their crew certificates. The business licenses of 9 companies have been revoked and another 4 suspended, and 15 managers from 5 companies and 9 skippers have been blacklisted.

Table 3Part of the penalties and disposition opinions for IUU cases in 2016—2018(Ministry of Agriculture, 2016a; 2017c) (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2018c).

Moreover, MARA issued an urgent notice requesting all localities to strengthen the management of DWF vessels. All fishing vessels operating on the high seas shall keep a safe distance of at least 3 nautical miles away from the EEZs of neighbour countries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2018b). From the date of notification, all fishing vessels entering the 3-nautical-mile buffer outside the EEZs of other countries were ordered to withdraw immediately. Otherwise, they would receive severe punishment. Personnel have since been called on 24-hour duty to watch vessels' positions closely.

6.Discussion

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is widely considered as one of the main causes of unsustainable fisheries (Miller et al.,2014). Overcapacity, inadequate supervision, unsustainable fishery subsidies, and incompetent domestic labor are the major causes behind IUU fishing practices (Gallic and Cox, 2006). Therefore, compliance with international regulations and improvement of domestic laws and policies are the prerequisites for effective deterrence of IUU fishing activities, while successful implementation of such laws and policies are the key to finally solve the problem. Fishermen's increasing awareness to abide by the laws may reduce their motivation to conduct violation and thus an indispensable part of the prevention, deterrence and elimination process.

For China, distant water fishing is more of a strategic industry than a commercial business (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2018e).Its importance lies not only in its supply of high-quality aquatic products to the domestic market, but also as an indispensable part of China's“Going out” strategy and the “One Belt One Road” initiative. Comprehensive fishery cooperation with coastal countries have been encouraged by the government to enhance the ties between countries by information sharing and technical cooperation. As a major DWF nation,China on the one hand calls for development of its marine fisheries to provide a livelihood for its 3 million fishing population (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries Administration, 2017) and contribute to the country's food security. On the other hand, it aims to play a responsible role in the international community and to adhere to the sustainable development of DWF, or at least to take the expansion of the industry into control. In this aspect, China hopes to provide the world with a“China solution”. And one important part of the solution is to express a“zero tolerance” attitude toward IUU fishing activities.

However, it is argued that policies implemented so far have not been effective enough, thus need to be reviewed and revised further. Also, the government's willingness to regulate the industry and to comply with international and regional conservative and management measures should be further enhanced as well.

Firstly, efforts should be made to make the IUU fishing activities less attractive and profitable by closing the loopholes in the domestic legislative system. Currently there is no such international law or regulation to impose penalties on illegal fishing. Apart from refusing vessels to seek entry into its ports and adding the IUU fishing vessels into blacklists, there are no other coercive measures for the international community to deter vessels from conducting IUU fishing. The responsibility of regulation and control lies on the flag States. It is therefore necessary to incorporate the binding principles and provisions of international regulations into domestic laws, regulations, policies and practices (FAO,2015). Although China's

Fisheries Law

clearly stipulates the severe penalties for illegal fishing, there is no specific law for DWF. The management of DWF is mainly based on the 2003 Supervision Regulation and notifications and opinions from MARA. While the improvement of domestic legislation takes a long time, China could start with the adoption of a national plan of action to regulate and control DWF activities.

Meanwhile, the effective implementation of PSMA could not only reduce the IUU motives of fishing vessels, but it would also prevent IUU catches from entering into domestic and international markets. According to provisions of PSMA, if there is a clear reason to believe that a fishing vessel has engaged in or supports IUU fishing activities, the flag State may request the port State to conduct inspections or take appropriate measures. Ratification of this agreement may help China improve its supervision of fisheries and combat IUU fishing activities efficiently in case of insufficient overseas law enforcement.

Besides, the effective implementation of management policies is of equal importance. Due to the large number of fishing vessels and fishery population, policies should be feasible and practical, as well as adaptable to China's current situations. As can be seen in current practices,boarding and inspection on the high seas can effectively crack down on illegal fishing activities and enhance compliance with conservation and management measures. In fact, high seas boarding and inspections(HSBI) has been accepted and adopted by a growing number of regional fisheries management organizations. Apart from coastal countries, DWF countries such as the United States, South Korea, and Japan have already taken part in regional high seas boarding and inspection programs. In the long run, HSBI will become a generally accepted rule in global fisheries management. As for China, participation in the HSBI will help to strengthen the monitoring of fishing activities on the high seas and mitigate violations in the high seas fisheries.

It is also advisable to increase in the coverage of observers to monitor fishing activities and record catches in international waters. It is necessary to establish and develop a professional observer system. Students with degrees on marine science, biology and fishery resources should be recruited and trained for the national observer talent pool. In other words, observers should be given a clear career path to encourage them to take the position as a profession instead of a mere experience.

Moreover, in many cases fishermen's noncompliance results from their lack of professional knowledge rather than intentional violation.Although strict supervision and punishment may to a certain extent deter IUU fishing activities, fishermen play an essential role in the prevention procedure. Most of the fishermen working on IUU fishing vessels are poorly educated, underpaid, with barely any foreign language skills,which means they usually have poor sense of geology, limited knowledge of fishing species and living resources, and lack of communication skills to foreign counterparts and inspectors. Most of them have little awareness whether they have violated the law or not. Once blacklisted,they have no other skills to make a living but return to their old occupation by all means. This also explains why one third of the IUU fishing vessels in West Africa have multiple records of illegal fishing (Greenpeace, 2015). Therefore, training courses are necessary to raise their awareness of compliance and improve their basic language skills. In case of being discouraged from the DWF industry, job alternatives should be provided to support their living.

To tackle an issue as complex as IUU fishing, a comprehensive system of enforcement is needed with cooperation and coordination between fishery industries and government authorities to facilitate comprehensive management approaches to implement the above mentioned suggestions.

7.Conclusions

Combating IUU is of essential significance in the conservation of marine living resources and the sustainable development of marine fisheries. And for China, effective deterrence of IUU fishing activities is the key to whether China's DWF can stand and sustain internationally in the long run. It is also a time and money consuming process.

China has spent a great effort and budget in the past few years to crack down on IUU fishing activities both by its domestic force and via cooperation with foreign countries and RFMOs. Though there have been certain achievements, there is still a long way to go. It is a time and money consuming process. For decision makers, it is necessary to establish a sound domestic legal framework to deter IUU fishing in DWF.At least, the strict management standards applied to domestic fisheries should also be applied to distant water fisheries. Also, international,especially cross-border cooperation should be taken into active consideration. In addition, more care and concern should be given to fishermen. Training and education would minimise their motivation to conduct IUU fishing activities. Only a multi-pronged approach can constrain IUU fishing practices and promote the sustainable development of marine fisheries.