Despite the People’s Republic of China maintaining that mainland China and Taiwan are parts of “One China” whose sovereignty cannot be divided, the world’s second-largest economy appears reluctant to entertain such perceptions when it comes to the management of fisheries for both entities.
The country’s delegation to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) has disagreed with the commission’s 10,557 metric ton (MT) yellowfin tuna catch-limit for 2022, saying the figure is below the 15,339 MT it expected. The higher quota is based on catch limits being calculated separately for mainland China and Taiwan.
“Based on the long-standing practice at IOTC, the yellowfin tuna catch limits for the People Republic of China in 2022 shall be 15,339 MT (4,641 MT for the mainland China and 10,688 MT for Taiwan), and not 10,557 [MT],” said a letter to the IOTC from Jiangfeng Zhu, China’s commissioner to the IOTC.
The 2022 catch limit is part of a larger plan by the IOTC to rebuild the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock within the commission’s area of control, a key goal of IOTC Resolution 21/01, which came into effect on 17 December, 2021.
Zhu said China can’t agree with the reasoning that the IOTC used to calculate the country’s yellowfin tuna catch limit. China is expecting the two countries to be considered differently, because the standards are different depending on the catch volume of the country – since Taiwan is below a threshold and China is above it, they should be treated differently, Zhu said.
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https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/china-protests-iotc-yellowfin-tuna-allocation-limits-for-2022