A China Coast Guard ship monitors Philippine fishermen aboard their wooden boats during the distribution of fuel and food to fishers by the civilian-led mission Atin Ito (This Is Ours) Coalition, in the disputed South China Sea on May 16, 2024. A Philippine boat convoy bearing supplies for Filipino fishers said they were headed back to port May 16, ditching plans to sail to a Beijing-held reef off the Southeast Asian country after one of their boats was “constantly shadowed” by a Chinese vessel. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — It appears that China is not seriously implementing its fishing ban as it has not arrested any Filipinos—or any claimants in the South China Sea, for that matter—since it implemented the unilateral policy in 2021.
This observation was shared by Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, who is the Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Life goes on for local fishers amid China ban
“I have yet come across any report that it is implemented,” Trinidad said of China’s fishing ban in a regular press briefing in Taguig.
“I have not encountered any report [of arrest], not only Filipino fishermen but also other maritime Asean fishermen coming from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam,” he added.
The fishing ban in the South China Sea, which encroaches most of the West Philippine Sea, started on May 1, 2024, and is expected to last until September 16, 2024.
For visualization only. Rendered map by: Samuel Yap / INQUIRER.net
However, Filipino fisherfolk continue to sail in the West Philippine Sea despite this intrusive fishing ban, according to Leonardo Cuaresma, president of the Zambales-based New Masinloc Fishermen Association.
In addition to China and the Philippines, other countries, such as Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, are also claimants of the Spratly Islands inside the South China Sea.
Nine maritime features of Spratly inside the western section of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines are locally known as the Kalayaan Island Group.