THE sea and its bounty is for the whole of mankind to share. That has been the unwritten rule since time immemorial, and it went unchallenged for hundreds of years in all villages and areas encircling any vast sea, in our part of the globe, the South China Sea. Until states and kingdoms were invented, along with social systems, sovereignty and the concomitant territorial boundaries. This led to the proclamation of rules and procedures between rulers and their subjects, and among neighboring royalties.
In the present world, the same sovereign power system holds, and rules are made by whoever has effective control over an area. As presidential legal adviser Juan Ponce Enrile once said, a territory is yours only if you can defend it. The country which holds political power over a geographical area makes the rules, and always trumpets the need for all the world to observe a rules-based behavior.
‘… the very acceptable issue of a fishing moratorium in answer to environmental concerns has metamorphosed into a geopolitical problem.’
We take the current fishing ban or moratorium imposed by China in certain parts of the South China Sea, parts of which are of course being disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
An annual moratorium on fishing in these seas is acceptable among countries by any standards. Overfishing has been recognized as a serious problem in Europe as it is in Asia and the Americas. The waters of the oceans and sea have to be given time to rejuvenate. Overfishing is so insidious that if left unchecked, it will threaten the survival of much of marine life and ultimately, the livelihood of thousands of fishermen in the world, including the Philippines.
It cannot be gainsaid that catching too many fish at once, making the breeding population too depleted to recover, is the exact formula for maritime perdition.
In the case of the Philippines, overfishing has been verified as the principal cause of the dwindling population of whale sharks and other species.
The Philippine government imposes a fishing moratorium in the Visayan Sea every year to counter the severe decline in fish population attributed to the persistent issue of overfishing. The three-month ban on fishing is usually from November to February. The Visayan Sea is a major fishing ground for sardines, mackerel and herring in the Philippines. The sea covers an area roughly 10,000 sq km with 22 municipalities along its coastlines.
The government supports the idea of a fishing moratorium on environmental grounds. However, the fishing ban this time is being imposed by the Chinese government, and it includes areas claimed by the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is therefore correct in filing a diplomatic protest over China’s unilateral imposition of a four-month-long fishing moratorium in parts of the South China Sea, saying the move violates international laws and raises tension in the disputed waters.
Just like in the Visayan Sea, it should be the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which should be imposing a fishing ban, if it is convinced that such a ban is warranted.
The DFA said China’s unilateral imposition of the fishing moratorium also raises tensions in the West Philippine Sea, and directly contravenes the understanding between President Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping to manage differences through diplomacy and dialogue and to de-escalate the situation at sea.
The DFA has filed over 150 diplomatic protests against China over its aggressive actions at sea under the administration of President Marcos. Last year, the DFA lodged 66 diplomatic protests against Beijing, 20 of which have been filed since January.
Thus, the very acceptable issue of a fishing moratorium in answer to environmental concerns has metamorphosed into a geopolitical problem. With China not expected to budge, the DFA may well count its latest diplomatic protest a number added to the list.
