The United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration has put a fishing ban on China in the North China Sea. China’s ban begins on May 1, 2017 and ends on August 17, 2017. China has blocked other nations such as Vietnam and the Phillipines from fishing in their traditional fishing grounds by using armed coast guard vessels, and ramming fish boats or threatening military action. In addition the South China Sea holds 10 percent of the worlds fisheries.
This relates to the environment, in that if China is banned from overharvesting seafood from parts of the North and South China Sea, they will likley make up for it by overharvesting in another oceanic region. China has a growing demand for seafood, that will have to be met. China will overharvest seafood in another region potentially giving tons of long-term consequences for that region down the line. These potential consequences include extinction of species, a dramatic altering of the food chain in that region.
China is an economic powerhouse, so I totally agree that they might feel compelled to overfish in another area. I’m not too sure about this, but does China export seafood? If that’s the case, international consumers like us can hopefully make a difference by limiting our demand. Any other ideas on how we might discourage overharvesting practices?
Hi Nicole, thank you for reading my article. We could increase the regulations for catching fish in that area, that way people would be less likely to overfish.
I agree that this could become a problem because China has one of the biggest populations in the world. People settle along the coast rely on fish for their food, and income so this ban has the potential to increase fishing in other areas. However, environmentally it is positive because fish in the banned areas can reproduce without human disruption.
Hi Owen, thank you for reading my article. You are right, banning areas of fish can help these fish populations recover.