trawler fleet operating in the North Pacific. The North 

 Pacific trawler fleet is composed largely of aging 

 vessels purchased from Japan, the former East 

 Germany, Spain, France, and Poland. 



Chinese Government import statistics for 1989-91 

 indicate that China imported large fishing vessels from 

 the following countries: Japan-37 fishing vessels valued 

 at $16.7 million, ROK-6 vessels valued at $3.6 million, 

 Italy-1 vessel valued at $4.7 million, Spain-1 vessel 

 valued at $3.3 million, Germany-2 vessels valued at 

 $11.0 million, and Poland-1 vessel valued at $3.0 

 million. Chinese import statistics do not include gross 

 registered toimage, but judging from the value of these 

 vessels, most of the imports from Japan, and all the 

 imported vessels from Italy, Spain, Germany, and 

 Poland were probably large factory trawlers. 



VI. Access to Foreign Fishing Grounds 



China has fishery agreements, cooperative 

 arrangements, or joint ventures with at least 15 foreign 

 entities: Spain, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, 

 Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco, Uruguay, Argentina, 

 Chile, Mexico, the United States, New Zealand, the 

 Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Russian Federation. 

 In addition, China is exploring the possibility of a 

 fisheries agreement with the Republic of Korea. 

 Detailed information is available on the following 

 countries: 



A. Former Soviet Union/Russian Federation 



China and the former Soviet Union signed a 

 fisheries agreement in 1988 which established 

 cooperation between the Soviet Far Eastern Fisheries 

 Administration and the CNFC. Cooperation and 

 technical exchanges have taken place in the fields of 

 harvesting, aquaculture (particularly seaweed), 

 processing, and fishing vessel repair. Chinese distant- 

 water vessels gained access to Soviet waters in 1989 

 when 20 vessels reportedly fished off the Soviet Far 

 East.'*" Chinese Government officials claim that none 

 of the large factory trawlers engaged in the 

 northwestern Pacific Alaska pollock fisheries are 

 fishing in Russian waters. '^ 



At the most recent meeting of the Russian-Chinese 

 Commission on Fishing held in Moscow during 



December 1992, agreement was reached on the 



construction of a scientific research and production 



center for seafood products in Russia. The project will 



be operated by the Russian scientific production 



company, Primakvaprom, and an unnamed Chinese fish 



processing company. The main objective of the center 



will be to promote harvests of seaweed, king crab, 



scallops, oysters, sea cucumbers, and other 



underexploited species through modem scientific 



research. A Chinese company will design and 



construct the center. In compensation, China will 



receive a 1,000 t fish catch allocation in 1993 and a 



1,000 t allocation in 1994 (species were not 



mentioned). Construction is scheduled to begin in 

 1994 18 



B. East Asia 



Republic of Korea: With the normalization of 

 relations between China and the Republic of Korea in 

 1992, a report described an ROK-Chinese joint venture 

 in China's Shandong Province. The ROK Dongwon 

 Company reportedly teamed up with the Shandong 

 Province Government to provide $20 million in start-up 

 capital for the Yuanyun Marine Product Company, an 

 aquaculture and fish processing concern." 



C. Oceania 



Marshall Islands: China has reportedly signed a 

 memorandum of understanding with the Marshall 

 Islands which could provide access to Marshall Islands 

 waters for up to 50 Chinese longliners.'" 



Federated States of Micronesia: China is 

 reportedly negotiating for access to Micronesian 

 waters. The Taiwan-owned Ting Hong Oceanic 

 Enterprise Company, Limited, reportedly operates 104 

 China-flag and Taiwan-flag vessels out of Yap.'' 



New Zealand: Chinese vessels have fished in New 

 Zealand waters since the introduction of the Quota 

 Management System (QMS) in 1991 . Under the QMS, 

 only New Zealand companies and/or citizens may own 

 a fishing quota, and foreign investment in New Zealand 

 companies is limited to 24.9 percent. Quota holders 

 may choose to use their own vessels or charter foreign 

 vessels to catch their quota. 



Under a charter arrangement, a foreign vessel is 

 hired to catch a quantity of fish which a New Zealand 



17 



