Good morning. Why are Chinese boats catching so many fish off the Galápagos Islands? |
| A Chinese ship fishing off the western coast of South America in July 2021.Isaac Haslam/Sea Shepherd, via Associated Press |
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A single country has accounted for about 80 percent of the fishing in the international waters just off Argentina, Ecuador and Peru this year. And it is not a South American country. It is China. |
In recent years, hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels have begun to operate almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week, off the coast of South America. The ships move with the seasons, from Ecuador to Peru to Argentina. China has focused on these faraway waters after depleting fish stocks closer to its own shores. |
China's fishing expansion is part of a much larger story, of course. As the world's most populous country, and one with an economy that has grown rapidly in recent decades, China has a growing global footprint — economically, diplomatically and militarily. It needs so much fish to feed a middle class that has become vastly larger over the past generation. |
China's rise has brought great benefits to its citizens: Many fewer of them live in poverty. But that rise is also creating problems for the rest of the world. China's leaders have been willing to flout international law to accomplish their goals. Even when China is following the law, it sometimes harms other countries for the sake of helping itself (which, to be fair, powerful nations have long done). |
The fishing expansion is a good example. The Times project focuses on South America, because China's fishing around the Galápagos Islands has become a flash point. Ecuador's government accused Chinese boats of fishing too close to Ecuador's shores, and both local fishing crews and environmental groups are worried that China is depleting local fish stocks. |
| By Agnes Chang |
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"Our sea can't handle this pressure anymore," said Alberto Andrade, a fisher from the Galápagos, who has organized an effort to expand protections. "The industrial fleets are razing the stocks, and we are afraid that in the future there will be no more fishery." |
Some experts are also worried that China is underreporting how much fish it catches: Suspicious movement patterns suggest that some ships may be turning off their transponders to hide some catches. "The concern is the sheer number of ships and the lack of accountability, to know how much is being fished out and where it's going to," said Marla Valentine, an oceanographer with the conservation group Oceana. |
These issues apply to more than just the waters off South America. Steven Lee Myers, the lead reporter on the project and a former Beijing bureau chief for The Times, told me that China had also expanded its fishing off the coasts of Africa and South Pacific nations, as well as Antarctica. |
"It reflects the global economic reach of China," Steven said. "Everyone knows it's a huge and growing economy, despite the latest headwinds, but the idea that it built a commercial fishing fleet like this seems to have huge implications, for the environment, of course, but also diplomacy and geopolitics, even national security across the Pacific — which is why the Trump and Biden administrations both focused on it." |
You can see the project here — including the story of Hai Feng 718, a large carrier vessel that keeps the fishing boats supplied and ferries their catches back to China, so that the boats can keep fishing, without pause. |
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| Funding for the government is set to run out when a new fiscal year begins on Saturday.Shuran Huang for The New York Times |
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| SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC |
Monday night rivalry: The Dallas Cowboys held off their N.F.C. East rival New York Giants 23-16 last night. Dallas QB Cooper Rush, thrust into the spotlight in Week 1, held his own as his defense took care of the rest. The game closed out a topsy-turvy Week 3. |
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| TikTok says it is doing more to stop the spread of misinformation.Anjum Naveed/Associated Press |
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On TikTok, the same features that make videos of dances go viral also make it easier to get conspiracy theories in front of millions of people. Attempts to limit falsehoods, including by banning hashtags, haven't always worked, as The Times has explained: #StopTheSteallll, made to get around a ban on #StopTheSteal and spread disinformation about the 2020 election, received nearly a million views before it was disabled. |
Even before the 2020 election, TikTok said that it was taking down videos, making it easier for users to report misinformation and working with fact checkers. Most recently, the company has announced steps to stop politicians from spreading or benefiting from misinformation, including by restricting political campaigning. |
| Johnny Miller for The New York Times |
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The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was majorly. Here is today's puzzle. |
Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David |
Matthew Cullen, Alain Delaqueriere, Natasha Frost, Lauren Hard, Lauren Jackson, Ian Prasad Philbrick and Ashley Wu contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com. |
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