#SOSgalapagos Barefoot Expeditions join this claim to protect the Galapagos Islands against the international fishing fleet operations on the international waters corridor between Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands.

?Heartbreaking data: Esperanza, a beautiful Whale Shark, marked on 09/2019. Stopped broadcasting 05/2020, 280 days transmitting. Between Insular Economic Exclusive Zone (ZEE) and Galapagos Marine Reserve (RMG) insular territory. Info: Jonathan Green and Alex Hearn.

⚡️ Latest News: NGO Sea Shepherd will send ‘anti-hunting patrol’ to the Galapagos if Ecuador authorizes it

Ecuador is monitoring a large fleet of fishing vessels, many of them Chinese, off the Galapagos Islands, and has increased patrolling to ensure the ships do not enter the area of the ecologically sensitive islands.

The Galapagos is an “oasis,” where the species that migrate concentrate, feed, exercise their reproductive cycles, and rest.

“We have to understand that crimes against nature are crimes against ourselves”

The reason why the Chinese fleet is in this strategic location is that in Galapagos four marine currents converge (Panama, Humboldt, South-Equatorial and Cromwell), which carry food and attract pelagic migratory species (animals that live in medium waters or near the surface), according to Alex Hearn, professor of Marine Biology at the San Francisco de Quito University.

Chinese fishing vessels appear each year near the Galapagos, attracted by marine species such as the hammerhead shark, which is in danger of extinction.

2,500 vessels are part of China’s industrial fleet, which together fish around 25 million metric tons of fish and other marine species each year
A Chinese vessel in 2017 was captured in the Galapagos Marine Reserve, carrying 300 tons of marine wildlife.

The Chinese take advantage of the fact that there is not much control over fishing in international waters and, apparently, they use unsustainable techniques¡  “We are talking about 26 million hooks. It is a barricade of at least 400 miles. This technique affects stingrays, sharks, turtles and even birds”

Ecuador and Galapagos marine Territory

On August 28, 2019, the Ecuadorian Navy Naval Squadron vessels captured four foreign fishing vessels within the Exclusive Insular Economic Zone (EEZ), at a distance of 188 nautical miles from the baseline of the Galapagos Islands, in considered illicit fishing operations. El Comercio

Marine species do not know borders and when following their migration routes they cross international waters, outside the national jurisdiction, where there are no clear management policies and insufficient control of fishing activities, becoming favorable spaces for illicit activities such as drug trafficking, illegal fishing, and piracy.

Barefoot urgently calls on the Ecuadorian State and the rest of the world to take the necessary measures to ensure the conservation of marine biodiversity to develop a sustainable way of living together with the rest of the species and reconcile with Nature, The Galapagos Island is our main tourist attraction that provides a sustainable way of living for thousands of Ecuadorian Families a resource we must protect for future generations.

BBC Galapagos and The Chinese fishing threat

Search Real-Time fishing Vessels Around the Galapagos Islands


Related Articles to Read

We are on a mission to Defend, Conserve, and Protect Marine Wildlife

Sea Shepherd

Convención de las Naciones Unidad Sobre el Derecho del Mar CONVEMAR

CONVEMAR PDF

New York Times

Comments

July 27, 2020
I really like and appreciate your blog post.
SMS
July 27, 2020
I love looking through a post that can make people think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment!

Leave a Reply