PH Navy: No indication China enforcing SCS fishing ban

The Philippine Navy on Wednesday said it has not seen any indication that China is implementing its unilateral fishing moratorium over the South China Sea (SCS).

At a press briefing, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said China’s directive was only for “narrative,” “deception,” and “lawfare” purposes.

“So far, none…Today's warfare is more on narratives, more on deception. It is part of the lawfare of China,” he said when asked about indications that China is enforcing its fishing ban over the area.

“The pronouncement on the ban has been there since 2021. They have announced a four-month fishing ban. But the implementation has not yet been put into effect,” he added.

Since 2021, Trinidad said China has not arrested Filipino fishers nor those from other claimant countries in the SCS such as Vietnam, Malaysia and even Indonesia.

Secure Filipino fishers

Trinidad said the Navy has taken actions to secure Filipino fishers from China’s directive but he refused to divulge them.

Filipino fishers continue to fish in the WPS despite China’s unilateral fishing moratorium, according to Trinidad.

On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippines protested China's fishing ban as it violated international law and undermined the country's sovereignty and maritime rights.

Manila said it did not recognize China’s May 1 to September 16 fishing moratorium as it included Manila's maritime zones over which the Philippines had sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

"The Philippines called on China to cease and desist from the conduct of illegal actions that violate the Philippines' sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in its maritime zones," the DFA said in a statement.

It also urged China to "comply with its obligations under international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award; and adhere to its commitments under the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea."

China's fishing ban came a week after it announced that it would detain foreigners intruding into areas it claims in the South China Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Manila calls parts of the waters within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague ruled that China's claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis, a decision Beijing does not recognize. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News