{"id":18171,"date":"2021-01-26T20:03:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T20:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?p=54110"},"modified":"2021-01-26T20:03:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T20:03:52","slug":"michael-field-murky-background-to-vanuatus-chinese-fishing-boat-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/26\/michael-field-murky-background-to-vanuatus-chinese-fishing-boat-arrests\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Field: Murky background to Vanuatu\u2019s Chinese fishing boat arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"
COMMENT:<\/strong> By Michael Field<\/em><\/p>\n Docked and under some kind of arrest in Port Vila, Vanuatu, are two Chinese flagged fishing boats, allegedly caught in unauthorised waters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of course it makes headlines, but the truth here is decidedly murky.<\/p>\n The arrest of Donggongxing 13<\/em> and 16<\/em> is headline stuff; South Pacific nations seldom arrest Chinese boats. It causes too much trouble with Beijing.<\/p>\n After all there are between 200 and 300 Chinese boats operating in Vanuatu\u2019s 663,251 sq km exclusive economic zone. Few of them are ever seen in Vila or Luganville; they all operate out China\u2019s biggest South Pacific fishing base – Suva, Fiji.<\/p>\n All of them are either longliners or purse seiners, taking tuna.<\/p>\n But not these arrested boats.<\/p>\n Now this is odd – this is a case of the arrests being less significant than the class of boat.<\/p>\n Known as ‘pot vessels’<\/strong> The names of the exclusive three? Donggongxing 13, 16<\/em> and 17<\/em>.<\/p>\n Why are the region\u2019s only pot vessels sitting off Hiu in the Torres Islands?<\/p>\n The police map issued to the media shows they were arrested 32 km west of Hiu. That puts them inside Vanuatu\u2019s territorial waters (not the EEZ) as defined by the Marine Zones Act 2018.<\/p>\n\n
\nIn the Western and Central Pacific Fishing Commission (WCPFC) register of 3450 fishing boats there are just three – all three are Chinese – known as \u201cpot vessels\u201d.<\/p>\n