Chapter 939 Illegal Fishing
Although many pirate ships will disguise themselves in order to approach their targets, they will not be able to work. According to photos taken by remote sensing satellites, these fishing boats are trawling, and it is impossible for pirate ships to disguise themselves to this extent.
Chen Cheng replied, "Boss, I checked. These fishing boats have no licenses or authorizations. They are fishing in unauthorized areas and without a license. They must have exceeded their quotas, which is standard illegal fishing!"
Xiao Peng was stunned: "Are you sure?"
Chen Cheng nodded: "I checked the websites of the fishery departments of these countries, and there is no record!"
Khedira, clutching his computer, was looking up something. He smiled after hearing Chen Cheng's words, "Chen, the boss just said several ships are registered as Maltese, Honduran, and Panamanian. You can buy ship registration in these countries for $500, and the paperwork can be completed in 24 hours! Why are so many ships registered as Panamanian? It's to evade taxes! These fishing boats are undoubtedly IUU fishing vessels. Look at this photo; they're dumping their catch into the sea."
This is also a characteristic of illegal fishing. After all, the capacity of a ship is limited, so illegal fishing boats often throw fish with low economic value into the sea and only leave fish with high economic value. This causes a lot of waste of resources and damages the ecology, which is a very undesirable behavior.
"Boss, I confirmed that there is also a Panamanian cargo ship here." Khedira pointed to the photo.
Xiao Peng said, "They're probably smuggling seafood. They're a gang specializing in IUU fishing."
Poachers transfer their catch directly to cargo ships at sea, allowing them to avoid inspection when they return to port. This practice of transferring fish back and forth between ships, concealing their true origins, is nicknamed "fish washing."
Most people don’t understand why some people still catch fish illegally. In fact, the global illegal fishing trade volume exceeds 20 billion per year, and it has long formed a complete one-stop industry!
Walter said, "Okay, all clear! I'm glad it's not pirates!"
Hua Chong also said, "I'll notify the Calypso right away."
"Wait!" Xiao Peng stopped the two men.
Walter and Hua Chong looked at Xiao Peng together: "Boss, is there any problem?"
Xiao Peng held his chin up and thought for a moment before saying, "Let's go and take a look!"
"What?" Everyone looked at Xiao Peng after hearing his words: "Why are we going to see them?"
Xiao Peng said, "Have you forgotten? We are now the 'EU IUU Observer'. If we see IUU fishing, we'll catch it!"
"Ah?" Hua Chong was stunned. "Boss, we only have this title to install weapons. Who would take us seriously? What are we going to do?"
Xiao Peng gave the answer: "Training!"
"Training?" Walter was stunned.
Xiao Peng nodded. "I know you guys are all good fishermen, but you've all been living a stable life since you came aboard. Now that we're in West Africa, we need to adjust. This isn't a safe place, so let's start by cracking down on illegal fishing to train everyone's adaptability."
Khedira said helplessly: "Boss, isn't this bullying? The three machine guns on our ship can directly sink them!"
He was not exaggerating. The 12.7 caliber machine gun was not like in the movies. In reality, the 12.7 machine gun was useless even if you hid behind a wall. Their ship was equipped with a three-barreled GAU-19 machine gun. If used at close range, even small and medium-sized warships could be turned into a hornet's nest with this thing, let alone this trawler.
Xiao Peng was furious after hearing this: "We're here to arrest illegal fishermen, not to kill people! Are you going to sink someone's boat?"
Chen Cheng said on the side: "There is no need for us to bomb them ourselves. They may sink the ship themselves."
It's not surprising he said that. When caught for illegal fishing, some people actually blow up their boats and destroy the evidence to escape legal responsibility. And there are plenty of such ruthless individuals. After all, if caught, the fines are often staggeringly high, and there's also the risk of jail time. So, they might as well go all out and just sink their boat into the lifeboat and let you guys see what happens.
The place with the most illegal fishing in the world is actually Africa.
As we all know, due to years of overfishing, the world's fishery resources are becoming increasingly scarce. Now, the place with the richest fishery resources in the world, apart from the Antarctic and Arctic, is only the area around Africa.
Why are Africa's fishery resources so good? Sadly, it's because of poverty.
As we all know, many African countries are relatively backward and modern fisheries are not yet developed, so there is no problem of overfishing. Therefore, the fishery resources here are relatively well preserved.
But what does that saying say? A man is innocent if he possesses a treasure!
The fishery resources here have also attracted fishing companies from all over the world to come and fish.
Formal fishing companies purchase fishing rights and quotas from coastal countries, but there is also a large amount of illegal fishing.
Honestly, there's no way to stop some illegal fishing. For example, fishing in the southern Gulf of Aden requires seeking fishing rights from Somalia, but Somalia doesn't have the final say! A country with hundreds of political parties, big and small, can't even find anyone to buy from. Somali pirates initially robbed fishing boats under the pretext of protecting their country's fisheries, but control eventually became uncontrollable.
Moreover, illegal fishing is much less prevalent in East Africa than in West Africa.
The East African coast is home to several major nations: Somalia to the north is plagued by pirates, while Kenya and Mozambique, both of which are vast, are particularly vulnerable. Tanzania, known as the "African JF Army," maintains a strong presence there, where illegal fishing is a serious threat. All of the Tanzanian Navy's warships are Chinese-made, providing ammunition and ammunition. Fishing there is incredibly risky.
And what about West Africa? It's a vast expanse of small nations, with over a dozen bordering the Gulf of Guinea. And most of them are weak and poor, so how could they possibly have a navy? Even if they did have a so-called "navy," its ships wouldn't be as fast as a fishing boat... It's a paradise for illegal fishing! It attracts illegal fishing boats from around the world, taking these risks!
Xiao Peng and his team encountered a group of illegal fishing boats.
"Chen Cheng, contact Morocco and tell them about our situation here. Hua Chong, tell Ma Xiao our decision and tell everyone to be prepared. We are going to arrest illegal fishing!" Xiao Peng gave the order.
The reason for notifying Morocco is very simple: if Tanzania is the 'East African JF Army', then Morocco is the 'North Africa France'. Their naval equipment is all French and they have very close relations with France.
After all, within Africa, especially West Africa, France undoubtedly holds the highest influence! Many countries use the CFA franc as their currency. France also supports Xiao Peng's activities. If Morocco is informed, will they not send someone?
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