most obvious distant-water catch species, Alaska 

 pollock, remained unchanged at 20,000 t from 1987- 

 90, but increased six-fold in 1991 to over 120,000 

 tons.^ 



Chinese distant-water fishing is planned, promoted, 

 and controlled by the China National Fisheries 

 Corporation (CNFC), a government-owned "company." 

 The CNFC coordinates the activities of various 

 provincial fishing companies (also government-owned) 

 which are the owners of distant-water fishing vessels. 

 Among these, the largest companies are located in 

 Shanghai, Dalian, and Fujian. The CNFC has 12 

 overseas offices located in the United States, Uruguay, 

 Argentina, New Zealand, Palau, the Russian 

 Federation, Las Palmas, Spain, and five West African 

 countries. 



A. Trawlers 



There are an estimated 120 Chinese distant-water 

 trawlers which fish in the waters off West Africa, 

 South America, Oceania, and the so-called donut and 

 peanut holes in the North Pacific Ocean.' The majority 

 of these vessels fish off the coast of West Africa, but 

 the most economically significant fleet is the North 

 Pacific stem factory trawler fleet. 



The development of the Chinese North Pacific 

 trawler fleet began in 1985 when China purchased 5 

 stem trawlers from the former East Germany for 

 Alaska pollock fishing in the Central Bering Sea donut 

 hole. The 5-vessel fleet caught only 1,600 t in 1985, 

 but expanded rapidly to 1 6 vessels which caught 3 1 ,000 

 tons in 1989, with vessel sizes ranging from 1,000 to 

 3,000 gross registered tons.'' Catches in 1990-92 

 decreased dramatically, however, reaching just 4,000 

 tons in 1992.' 



According to the U.S. Department of Defense, 

 Office of Naval Intelligence, China currently owns 30 

 fishing vessels having a capacity of at least 1 ,000GRT 

 each (appendix C). Most are probably stem factory 

 trawlers. The majority of these vessels were purchased 

 from foreign countries, such as the former East 

 Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, and Japan. 



The Shandong Fisheries Corporation of China 

 purchased a 2,995GRT trawler from the Kyokuyo 

 Fisheries Company of Japan in 1992 which was 

 reportedly being deployed both in the donut hole and in 



the New Zealand exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for 

 at-sea surimi processing. This was the second Japanese 

 factory trawler purchased by China (the first was a 

 Taiyo Fisheries Corporation trawler bought in 1990). 

 Kyokuyo provided technical assistance and imported 

 some of the Chinese-produced surimi.' 



With the prohibition of donut hole fishing during 

 1993-94, it is difficult to pinpoint where the Chinese 

 trawlers which fished in the donut hole are currently 

 fishing, but it is believed that most, if not all, of the 

 donut hole fleet has moved to the Central Sea of 

 Okhotsk peanut hole. In response to the Russian 

 Federation's June 1993 declaration of a ban on fishing 

 for Alaska pollock in the peanut hole, China has 

 offered to reduce its peanut hole catch by 25 percent in 

 1993 and participate in multilateral negotiations 

 conceming the future management of this fishery. 



B. Squid Jiggers 



China does not yet have a squid jigger fleet. It 

 would not be surprising, however, if Taiwan squid 

 jigging companies began financing and deploying 

 Chinese vessels on distant-water jigging grounds just as 

 is being done in distant-water tuna fisheries (see I.D. 

 Distant-water Tuna Fisheries). 



C. Driftnet Vessels 



Chinese fishing vessels did not engage in 

 Government-licensed high-seas pelagic driftnet 

 fisheries, but Chinese-flag vessels were first observed 

 driftnet fishing in the fall of 1991. Chinese-flag 

 driftnet vessels have also been observed in 1992 and 

 1993, but the Chinese Govenmient has reiterated its 

 support for the U.N. moratorium on high-seas pelagic 

 driftnet fishing and has taken enforcement action 

 against these vessels. Chinese Government officials 

 believe that Chinese-flag driftnet vessels are actually 

 from Taiwan, and that these vessels are using the 

 Chinese flag to avoid punishment. Another explanation 

 is that these vessels may be legitimate Chinese vessels 

 which have moved their base to Taiwan after the 

 Chinese Govemment revoked their registration.' 



D. Distant-water Tuna Vessels 



China has recently initiated distant-water tuna 

 operations in the South Pacific. The exact number of 

 Chinese vessels engaged in this fishery is unknown, but 



15 



