Hawaii’s Fishermen Are Worried About China’s Fleet. So Is The Military … The U.S. military increasingly sees illegal fishing as a national security threat and has China’s vast government-subsidized fleet in its sights.
Hawaii’s commercial fishermen and the U.S. military have a potential threat in common — China’s fleet of government-subsidized ships that has been straying into more distant waters in search of seafood and more influence.
Local longliners have reported seeing increasing numbers of Chinese vessels near the islands, accusing them of overfishing and intimidation tactics.
Sometimes the ships are fishing, sometimes they’re making their way into the eastern Pacific and sometimes they’re seemingly just sitting at sea, says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association.
