Fishing amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea
April 8, 2016
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CATO,
Philippines (AP) — As Asian countries jostle for territory in the South
China Sea, one Filipino fisherman is taking a stand.
He
has faced down Chinese coast guard rifles, and even engaged in a
stone-throwing duel with the Chinese last month that shattered two
windows on his outrigger.
"They'll
say, 'Out, out of Scarborough,'" Renato Etac says, referring to
Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcropping claimed by both the Philippines
and China. He yells back, "Where is the document that shows Scarborough
is Chinese property?"
At
one level, the territorial disputes in the South China Sea are a battle
of wills between American and Chinese battleships and planes. At
another level, they are cat-and-mouse chases between the coast guards of
several countries and foreign fishermen, and among the fishing boats
themselves.
Indonesia
seized a Chinese fishing boat last month and arrested eight fishermen,
only to have a Chinese coast guard vessel ram the fishing boat as it was
being towed, allowing it to escape.
Vietnam's
coast guard chased away more than 100 Chinese boats over a two-week
period, its state media reported this week, and made a rare seizure of a
Chinese ship carrying 100,000 liters (26,400 gallons) of diesel oil,
reportedly for sale to fishing boats in the area.
The
South China Sea, a hodgepodge of overlapping territorial claims in the
Pacific, is both strategically important and a vital shipping route for
international trade. It may also contain valuable oil and natural gas
reserves.
As
tensions ratchet up, though, it is perhaps those who make a living at
sea who feel it the most. Here are some stories from fishermen around
the region:
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PHILIPPINES: THE GUARDIAN OF SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
Renato Etac has had dozens of encounters with Chinese ships.
More
than once, a small team of Chinese coast guardsmen on a rubber boat
approached his boat and pointed their rifles at him, but he says he knew
they would not fire and risk starting a war.
At
other times, the Chinese will surge as if to hit his boat, but the
37-year-old fisherman uses his keen knowledge of Scarborough Shoal —
where he has fished for Spanish mackerel, trevally and grouper since he
was a teenager — to outmaneuver them.
Etac
says he just wants to defend his livelihood in waters that used to be
open to all. China took control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a
two-month standoff with Philippine government ships. It sits about 230
kilometers (145 miles) west of the Philippines, and 1,000 kilometers
(620 miles) from the Chinese coast.
"It's
like quarreling, like playing games," he says. "Yelling, dirty finger,
everything's there. Sometimes I use expletives in different dialects and
I get to laugh when I see them, because they don't understand what I'm
saying."
He
enjoys what he calls the territorial "debates" in the high seas, though
his earnings from a weeklong fishing expedition have dropped by more
than half to 3,000 pesos ($63), because of both the Chinese disruptions
and competition.
"He's
like the guardian of Scarborough, sir," said Greggy Etac, a relative
and a fellow fisherman. "I used to sail with him, but now, I'm scared."
— Jim Gomez in Cato, Philippines.
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CHINA: COAST GUARD TO THE RESCUE
Chinese
fishermen working out of the Hainan island port of Tanmen say they now
enjoy much greater support from their country's beefed-up coast guard.
They
have been forced to range further out to sea because of the heavy
depletion of coastal fisheries, says Li Xianchuan, a 64-year-old crew
member who has been fishing in and around Scarborough, the Spratly
islands and the closer-in Paracels — claimed also by Vietnam — for 40
years.
"There
are many more fish in the Nansha islands, particularly Huangyan
island," he says, using the Chinese terms for the contested Spratly
group and Scarborough Shoal.
In
previous years, Chinese government ships would issue radio warnings
about the presence of Philippine patrol ships around Scarborough Shoal.
"It
was very dangerous and scary," he says, as his 90-ton vessel takes on
fresh water in preparation for a foray into the South China Sea. "We had
to run around the reefs to get away from big (Philippine) boats. Thanks
to the shallow water and submerged reefs, their big boats could not
enter the reefs. We played hide-and-seek inside the reef until their
boats gave up and left."
Conditions
for Chinese fishermen have vastly improved with the addition of new and
larger Chinese coast guard vessels and a more proactive approach, Li
says. A call to the coast guard will bring help within two to three
hours, he says.
Fishing
in the South China Sea remains perilous, Li says. Fishermen must
contend with rogue sailors from Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia
who might try to rob them of their catches and fishing equipment. Li
says he has been fired on once, and knows of several fishermen killed in
encounters with Philippine boats.
— Zhang Weiqun in Tanmen, China
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TAIWAN: FEAR OF BANDITRY AT SEA
Heightened
competition, and even banditry, is making it ever-harder to make a
living, says Taiwanese fishing boat owner Hong Huai-jen.
"Now,
they are not only fishing in the South China Sea, but have also broken
into our territorial waters," Hong says, standing by his boat in the
southern Taiwan port of Donggang, which looks out on the Taiwan Strait.
His
boat was surrounded last November by a group of Vietnamese fishing
boats in waters off Taiwan, presumably for the purpose of robbing him.
He managed to give them the slip and called the Taiwanese coast guard
for help. The Vietnamese boats had dispersed by the time help arrived.
"Taiwanese
fishermen don't have any weapons," Hong says. "Once they board our
boats, there's nothing we can do. We would be detained and we have to
pay for our release."
He has been fishing for 14 years from his home port on Xiaoliuqiu, an island in the Taiwan Strait.
"There's
a big difference compared with the business we had before," he says.
"My father has worked as a fisherman for about 40 years. The fishery
resources were rich, and there were fewer fishing boats before. But now,
the resources are thin and there are lots of boats."
— Johnson Lai in Donggang, Taiwan
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INDONESIA: ANCESTRAL DISPUTES
Fish-rich
waters around Indonesia's Natuna Islands have a long history of being
contested, says Anton Leonard, a fisherman and exporter who is
secretary-general of the Indonesian Fishermen's Association representing
traditional fishermen.
"Fishermen
that come from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China have told native
fishermen that Natuna waters are their traditional fishing grounds since
the time of their ancestors," says Leonard. "Local fishermen in Natuna
could not resist their presence because some of them believe the claims,
others because such vessels are much bigger, more advanced and
sometimes also carrying weapons."
Native
fisherman haven't been directly affected by South China Sea incidents
that involve Chinese patrol boats, likely because they don't venture far
out into Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, he says. But Indonesia's
crackdown on foreign fishing vessels in its waters and a policy against
"transshipment" of fish between boats at sea has affected the livelihood
of traditional fisherman because they have fewer opportunities to sell
their catch. At the same time, the government lacks a comprehensive
strategy to empower the fishermen and improve their industry, Leonard
says.
"We
are not afraid to face foreign boats coming into our territory,"
Leonard said. "We're eager to help the government and waiting to be
involved in the defense of the country, even if only to be able to
inform the local authorities about their presence within our waters."
— Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia
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VIETNAM: FEARING CHINA
For
five generations, Tran Lan's family has been fishing in the South China
Sea. He was 17 when he started going out in a small boat with his
father. The family did well enough to buy two wooden trawlers for
$90,000 each. His four sons, now aged 19 to 30, joined him.
The
decades-old routine changed in the early 2000s when their boat was
threatened and nearly rammed by Chinese maritime police four times near
the Paracel Islands in South China Sea. They switched their fishing
grounds to the less bountiful Tonkin Gulf, but still work in constant
fear of being attacked by the Chinese.
"We
have equipped GPS and navigation to identify Chinese boats so we can
avoid them," Lan says. "The last thing I want is to get too close to
Chinese boats. They have bigger boats and definitely would outrun us."
His
boats were among about 1,000 anchored at Tho Quang terminal, the
biggest in the central port city of Danang. He and others were busily
readying their boats to go back to sea. Each expedition lasts up to 30
days, punctuated by two to three weeks in port to rest and repair boats
and gear.
Vietnam,
China and Taiwan all claim the Paracel Islands, which have been
controlled by China since 1974. Vietnam has accused China of harassing
and attacking its fishermen in what it says are traditional fishing
grounds near the Paracels that they have been working for generations.
"I
was fishing near the Paracel Islands for a long time, but the Chinese
have sealed it off," Lan says, whose family earns about $27,000 a year
catching squid. "It was a good area for fishing."
— Hau Dinh in Danang, Vietnam
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