Police Nabs Chinese Ship As Peru Continues to Lose Hundreds of Millions to Illegal Fishing

A Chinese ship carrying 19 tons of illegally obtained calamari, from the Peruvian shore, was intercepted and detained by local authorities.

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The ship, according to reports from the Peruvian officials, lacked the requisite authorization to fish within a 200-mile radius of the Peruvian shoreline.

The prosecutor's office issued a statement disclosing that an investigation will be carried out within a period of 80 days to find out all the facts relating to the Chinese ship's alleged illegal operation.

A legal representative of the Chinese vessel operator, Juan Cortez, contradicted the prosecutor’s remarks, stating that “the fishing was not illegal, it was extracted from international waters near the equatorial line.”

There are several Asian fishing ships operating near the Peruvian coast and the majority of them come from China. According to OCEANA, a foundation which monitors and studies coastal resources, Peru is losing more than US$360 million annually to illegal fishing.