Competition over dwindling fish stocks has led to violent confrontations around the world. Hawaii longliners are feeling the effects.
In the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 1, 2020, the Robin II, a Honolulu-based fishing longliner, was confronted by a larger Taiwanese-flagged vessel about 115 miles south of Hawaii.
The American-flagged Robin II’s owner Jino Lee said the Chi Win No. 1688, also a longliner, aggressively charged his boat as members of both crews argued and shouted in different languages.
The Robin II, which is captained by Lee’s father and has five crew members, is 62 feet long and weighs about 69 tons, while the Chi Win No. 1688 has 30 crew members, is 138.5 feet long and weighs about 327 tons, according to a Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission registry.
As the Robin II’s captain best understood it, the Taiwanese longliner’s crew seemed to believe the Honolulu-based vessel had cut their fishing line. Lee insists that wasn’t the case.
Robin II’s captain got on the radio and told Chi Win No. 1688 that he had called the Coast Guard. The Taiwanese vessel eventually backed off, but not before crew members dumped paint on the deck and sides of Robin II. Repairs cost the Lees more than $2,500.
The confrontation offers a window into the bitter — and sometimes violent — disputes that have gripped fisheries around the world and are coming closer to Hawaii’s shores.
The Coast Guard also said that last year it intercepted several foreign fishing vessels operating within Guam and Hawaii’s maritime borders, known as exclusive economic zones, for the first time since 2012.
U.S. government officials have become increasingly concerned about the long-term consequences of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
In September, the Coast Guard released its new strategic plan to combat illegal fishing. Citing a recent United Nations report, the Coast Guard estimated that 93% of marine fish stocks are now “fully exploited, overexploited, or significantly depleted.”
Coast Guard commandant Adm. Karl Schultz wrote that illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing “has replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat” and warned it could threaten geopolitical stability worldwide.
The Hawaii fishery has also been accused of problems with abuse of migrant labor, though the Hawaii Longline Association says it has taken steps to address the problem. Robin II mostly uses an Indonesian crew, but Lee said his family has always made taking care of them a priority. “They eat steak and lobster,” said Lee. “We treat them like Americans.”
The World Trade Organization recently began looking into banning fishing subsidies. The Chinese government, which maintains the world’s largest fishing fleet thanks in large part to such subsidies, has fiercely resisted the effort. Fishing disputes have played a prominent role in recent conflicts in the South China Sea.
The Chinese military maintains a “maritime militia” that uses fishing boats for surveillance and staking out disputed territory along with its Navy.
In 2020 the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese vessel was caught on video, leading to international condemnation. Filipino food security advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan estimates that fishers in the Philippines lost out on 7.9 million pounds of fish from Chinese ships barring them from their traditional fishing grounds.
As industrial fishing depletes fisheries in Asia and the Chinese military stakes out more waters, more fishermen are forced to search for their catch elsewhere to make a living, with many venturing farther into the Pacific.
2010-2021 Honolulu Civil Beat Inc. All rights reserved.