A fleet of Chinese vessels that was previously caught fishing illegally in West Africa has been approved for trawling by authorities in Madagascar.
The Environmental Justice Foundation recently published the results of an investigation that found Mada Fisheries, registered in Madagascar in 2021 under Chinese ownership, received licensing for eight trawlers to fish in Malagasy waters through 2025, despite the fact three of them were arrested by Gambian authorities in 2020 for illegally fishing in a zone reserved for artisanal fisheries. Malagasy law bars any vessels guilty of previous illegal, unreported, unregulated incidents from operating in the country’s waters.
The investigation also found the firm potentially forged Chinese Agriculture Ministry paperwork required by Madagascar for licensure of Chinese distant-water firms. And Shandong Rongcheng Dafa Fisheries Co Ltd, which is listed as the owner of the vessels, does not appear in records kept by Chinese authorities of its licensed fishery firms….