Chinese fishing research vessels are scouting the Arabian Sea. The two research vessels are expected to glean information that will, in the future, support Beijing’s fishing fleet in exploiting the region.

Experts feel this development will also have strategic implications for India.

China’s state-backed fishing fleet, shadowed by its maritime militia, has come to represent unbridled resource exploitation, environmental damage, and geopolitical maneuvering.

Although it operates under the pretense of commercial fishing, it is a vital component of Beijing’s larger plan to establish control over critical marine areas, such as the Indian Ocean.

Recently, two of China’s Fisheries science vessels, Lan Hai 101 and 201, were spotted in the Arabian Sea, conducting research for China’s aquaculture sector, gaining information that will “likely support Beijing’s distant-water fishing fleet that operates in the region.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by China is a problem that cuts beyond national boundaries and necessitates a coordinated international response since it depletes marine resources while militarizing disputed seas.

China operates the world’s largest fishing fleet, and it has come to be known as a Maritime militia as it acts at the behest of the Chinese government.

China’s armed fishing militia—officially called the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM) by the US Department of Defense is used by Beijing as an instrument to assert its sovereignty over disputed territories in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, where these ships intrude into the territorial sea around Japanese or the Philippines islands every month.

Earlier, Captain DK Sharma (retired), the former spokesperson of the Indian Navy, equates the Chinese Coast Guard, fishing boats, and PLA-Navy to the different fingers in the hand that are of different lengths but fold together to form a fist.

“There is no difference between the Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, and militia. It is all under the aegis of national maritime security. They just have different roles. It (the Coast Guard) has become a menace. It is a ‘might be the right’ kind of setup. That is why like-minded countries are coming together to establish a rule-based order,” Sharma had told the EurAsian Times.

China’s distant-water fishing fleet has been suspected of intelligence gathering and is the vanguard of China’s “Grey Zone Tactics”.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Global Fishing Watch have released reports that emphasize the Maritime Militia’s crucial involvement in illegal fishing.

Chinese vessels were implicated in about 95% of IUU incidents in foreign exclusive economic zones (EEZs). They are most noticeable in the Indian Ocean, where they have preyed on the fisheries of smaller countries like Kenya, Madagascar, and Somalia. These vessels operate freely in waters essential to local economies and food security, taking advantage of littoral nations’ weak enforcement capacities.

“As much as countries are allowed to carry out scientific research, Chinese ongoing fishing vessels surveys have long-term scientific, ecological and strategic implications- something countries (in the Indian Ocean) can no longer ignore,” Dr. Pooja Bhatt, Maritime Expert and Assistant Professor at OP Jindal University said in response to the EurAsian Times query.

Analysts consider the maritime militia to be China’s third sea force, alongside its navy and coast guard. Professor of strategy at the US Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute Andrew Erickson dubbed it “little blue men.” These blue-hulled ships regularly join the Chinese Coast Guard in blockades against the Philippines.

The maritime militia is “a set of mariners and their vessels which are trained, equipped, and organized directly by the PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army) local military commands,” Erickson said in a 2017 interview with the think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Is China Eating All Of The World’s Fish?

The Chinese fishing trawler has been threatening the local fishermen in the littoral countries in the region. In Pakistan (where China has invested heavily in infrastructure and port developments), protests have erupted against the Chinese deep-sea trawlers, depleting the fish in the region.

The effects of Chinese illegal fishing on the environment are severe.

According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Chinese vessels are disproportionately responsible for the overfishing disaster, which has adversely impacted almost 34% of the world’s fish supplies. Tuna, a vital resource for countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is in danger of going extinct in the Indian Ocean.

The reduction is made worse by illegal fishing practices like bottom trawling and pursuing young fish, and coral reefs—which support marine biodiversity—have caused irreversible harm. This could have a ripple effect on global food security and biodiversity.

The Chinese fishing vessels are accompanied by the Navy and Coast Guard. In 2013, China merged five civil maritime agencies into the unified Chinese Coast Guard, known as the Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE). This MLE is congruent with the country’s burgeoning national power.

China has turned its coast guard into a paramilitary enforcer. China has rapidly expanded the size of its paramilitary forces—which also include a vast and growing maritime militia—and subordinated them to the People’s Liberation Army.

When Indonesia detained Chinese fishing vessels close to the Natuna Islands in 2022, the PLAN reacted quickly, creating a confrontation that necessitated diplomatic intervention. Similar responses were seen in Sri Lanka, where Beijing was ready to militarise commercial disputes.

In 2023, then-Indian Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar (retired) accepted that a certain amount of contestation occurs at sea daily. The Navy chief said it is well below the threshold of conflict, but the possibility of a full-fledged conflict cannot be ruled out.

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