China and many countries are greatly underreporting how much they take from Earth’s oceans

[phantom power]

CHINESE FISHING VESSELS are catching 12 times more than they are reporting annually, a study published today by researchers at the University of British Columbia has found.

“Chinese fishing boats catch about US$11.5 billion worth of fish from beyond their country’s own waters each year,” states a media release. “Most of it goes unreported.”

In a telephone interview with the Straight, Dirk Zeller, a senior research fellow at the UBC Fisheries Centre and one of study’s co-authors, said that the problem is the size of China’s fishing fleets coupled with Beijing’s reluctance to publicize the details of its deals with other governments.

But he was quick to emphasize that while UBC’s investigation focused on China, many countries are lowballing estimates for how much their fleets haul in.

“China is not alone in this,” Zeller said. “Basically, every country in the world underreports its catch.”

http://www.straight.com/news/369066/china-and-many-countries-are-greatly-underreporting-how-much-they-take-earths-oceans

[JimDandy]

1. These are Fishing Factory Super Tankers.

Calling them trawlers or even "Super Trawlers" gives the reader the wrong impression that they are innocuous fishing vessels, instead of humongous tankers that look like they could hold millions of fish. "Super Tanker", which is used in the oil industry, already has a negative connotation attached to it that would be useful and more accurate in the over-fishing industry.