An angling watercraft is seen from an airplane of the Ecuadorian navy after an angling fleet of primarily Chinese- flagged ships was spotted in a global hallway that surrounds the Galapagos Islands’ special financial area, in the Pacific Ocean August 7, 2020. Picture taken August 7, 2020. REUTERS/Santiago Arcos

QUITO, Aug 24 (Reuters)– Chinese angling vessels running at the Galapagos Islands are abiding by global angling policies on the high seas and also none have actually been reported for prohibited tasks, China’s ambassador to Ecuador claimed on Monday.

Ecuador’s militaries recently claimed 149 of some 325 vessels still fishing near the environmentally delicate islands had actually shut off radar to avoid tracking of their tasks.

“Except for some delays or temporary loss of satellite signal, all Chinese ships keep operating and using monitoring systems normally,” Ambassador Chen Guoyou informed the global connections compensation of Ecuador’s congress, talking with an interpreter.

The federal government of President Lenin Moreno has actually claimed that the fleet has actually not gone into the Ecuador’s territorial waters.

But conservationists state this sort of angling permits Chinese ships to make the most of the plentiful varieties that leave the Galapagos Exclusive Economic Zone and also go across right into the high seas where Ecuador does not have territory.

Guoyou claimed the vessels are primarily angling for squid, with a little percent of them angling for tuna.

“The operating characteristics of squid fishing boats do not allow the incidental capture of sharks and other protected marine species,” he claimed. “China is a major fishing nation … and it is also a responsible fishing nation.”

He claimed the vessels abide “strictly” with the policies produced by of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and also Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.

“There is no Chinese fishing vessel” on the checklists of vessels participated in prohibited, unreported and also uncontrolled angling released by these companies, Guoyou claimed.

Beijing has actually guaranteed a plan of “zero tolerance” with the watercrafts and also has actually licensed the Andean nation to monitor the vessels. It has actually suggested an angling postponement in the location near the Galapagos in between September and alsoNovember Fishing fleets generally leave the location prior to that duration.

The Ecuadorian Navy has actually claimed that ships are currently relocating at reduced rates west of the islands, which worked as the basis for British researcher Charles Darwin’s concept of the development of varieties in the 19th century. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; composing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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