It's a development designed to throw Australia off balance in a sensitive location:the town of Daru is the closest PNG community to Australia and only 200 kilometres from the Australian mainland. It’s very close to the islands of the Torres Strait within our northern border. Daru is a designated PNG port of entry and the entrance to Western Province. But there’s no real PNG assets to monitor the area,especially Indonesian fishers coming across for illegal trade in beche-de-mer.
PNG's patrol boats can't patrol in the southern border area between the Indonesian border and Daru because the waters are poorly charted and shallow. Compared to the Australian border,the PNG-Indonesia border in the area is relatively porous.
In June,China signed an agreement with PNG for substantial volumes of PNG seafood to be exported directly to China. The new fishing memorandum of understanding with China's Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company was sponsored by the Chinese government. It was announced by China's Ministry of Commerce,supported by Beijing's powerful ambassador in Port Moresby,Xue Bing. He declared that the investment “will definitely enhance PNG's ability to comprehensively develop and utilise its own fishery resources”.
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There’s a real question why China would build such a huge fishing operation in a place where there’s not a lot of fish,apart from some crays,beche-de-mer,mackerel and snappers. But what marine living resources are there would be at risk:a Chinese fishing operation would vacuum everything up,putting at risk the subsistence living of coastal communities. Chinese fishing fleets have devastated local fish stocks in the offshore zones of many impoverished nations.
“We have to stand up and voice our concerns about it,because it will be on our doorstep,” said Torres Shire mayor Vonda Malone. “It will affect our communities,our people,our families,our resources. We are dealing with a country that does not have the same values as us.”
China leads the world in illegal,unreported and unregulated fishing. Its fishing fleet numbers up to 800,000 boats. China depleted its domestic fisheries long ago. The Chinese government heavily subsidises its fleet and uses its militia fishing fleet to push its illegal claims in the East and South China Seas.