QUITO, Aug 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador reported that nearly half of
the Chinese fishing boats that roam the Galapagos Islands have turned off
their tracking systems, making it impossible to locate them.
The Ecuadorian Navy detected 149 ships that had turned off their
transponders, a device that allows authorities to know where they are,
defense minister Oswaldo Jarrin told a press conference.
Jarrin said the fleet, made up mostly of Chinese boats, has increased from
260 to 325 since mid-July, when their presence was announced near the
exclusive economic zone of the Galapagos, whose wildlife is protected.
If the tracking systems are turned off,” it is no longer possible to
identify where they are, who they are or what their data or identification of
origin is,” the minister said.
Jarrin said the boats remain in international waters, and so far “no vessel
or fishing boat has entered the exclusive economic zone” of the archipelago,
a UNESCO heritage site that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
The minister added, though, that turning off the satellite identification
transponders is already a “violation.”
After the presence of the fishing fleet became known in July, Ecuador
voiced disquiet to China, leading to negotiations between the countries.
Beijing in early August banned its vessels from fishing near the Galapagos
from September to November this year.
Ecuador in 2017 captured a Chinese-flagged boat carrying 300 tons of marine fauna, including an endangered shark species, within the Galapagos marine reserve.
A World Heritage site, the Galapagos has a 51,000-square-mile marine reserve that protects all its species.
There is a 15,000-square-mile sanctuary between Darwin and Wolf islands
that is home to the largest shark population in the world.
The Galapagos, located 620 miles west of Ecuador, is a fragile ecosystem
that harbors the largest number of different animal species on the planet. — NNN-AGENCIES