Cambodian Local newspaper journalist reporting on IUU fishing beaten to death by fishermen

I just read a couple of shocking reports that were featured in both the Premium Times and the Phnom Penh Post about a Cambodian newspaper reporter who after covering  a story on illegal fishing was killed by fishermen outside his home in the Peam Chhkork commune, in the central province of Kampong Chhnang.

According to the Phnom Penh Post:

The reporter “Suon Chan, 44, a reporter for Meakea Kampuchea (Cambodia’s Way) newspaper, was confronted by a group of 10 fishermen as he was leaving his house in Cholkiri district’s Peam Chhkork commune and was beaten unconscious by four of them; he died after being sent for medical treatment.”

Cambodian District police officer Tith Reth told the Post:

“He had stones thrown at him, and was beaten with the base of a bamboo stalk by a group of people while he was walking alone out of his house in order to buy cigarettes from a shop in the village. He was hit and seriously injured on his head and neck, and lost consciousness at the scene.”

The Peam Chhkork Commune police chief Duong Vuthy told the Post that:

He suspected that Chan’s killing was motivated by his past reporting on illegal fishing, which had resulted in police crackdowns.

“So far, we do not know the exact reason for this journalist’s assassination, but according to our preliminary investigation, it is related to the rancour between the victim and the group of suspects, because he used his influence as a journalist in reporting and writing about the suspects’ illegal fishing activities in the commune.”

A Cambodian fisherman stands on his boat at the Mekong river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 17 March 2010, in this picture made available 22 March 2010. World Water Day on 22 March 2010 focuses on the needs of the 900 million people who don’t have access to safe water. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says 2.7 billion people, including 980 million children, currently lack access to proper sanitation facilities and 880 million people go without access to a basic water supply. More than half of the population in the Pacific Islands do not have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation and more than half of the population in South Asia do not have access to proper sanitation. A staggering 50 per cent of all hospital beds in the developing world are occupied by victims of unsafe water and sanitation. EPA/MAK REMISSA.
Source: http://ki-media.blogspot.co.nz/2010/03/world-water-day-in-cambodia.html

Reporters Without Borders (RWB)  also covered this story. RWB have reiterated that reporter Suon Chan’s coverage of illegal fishing may have been the reason.

Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk urges powers at be to do something about the freedom of information in Cambodia:

“Like the Cambodian Centre for Independent Media (CCIM) and the United Nations, we urge the authorities to shed light on this act of savagery, to not rule a possible link to the victim’s work, and to bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible.”

“If it is confirmed that Suon Chan was killed because of his work as a journalist, this murder would constitute yet another grave violation of freedom of information in Cambodia. A thorough investigation is needed to end the tradition of impunity for those who murder journalists in Cambodia.”

According to RWB, Cambodia is notorious for the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for using violence against journalists and is ranked 143rd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. They provided a CCIM list of 12 journalists whose murders in the past 10 years have gone unpunished.

Related articles

• Journalist who covered illegal fishing beaten to death by fishermen (Reporter without Borders)
• Maui’s Dolphins: Rather than pointing fingers, let’s negotiate the polemic and point the way forward (greenfishbluefish.wordpress.com)
• Precision Seafood Harvesting – Trail Blazing definitely? A game changer – Quite possibly (greenfishbluefish.wordpress.com)

South Koreans push back on Accusation that the Korean IUU Fishing Korean Fleet is essentially Government Subsidised

Atuna reported  that the South Korean government, Dongwon Industries, and other tuna fisheries companies are under fire for failing to take pre-emptive steps to prevent the European Union (EU) preliminary listing of Korea as a country engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF) (see Gov’t Subsidized IUU Fishing By Korean Fleet?). On 26 November 2013, the European Commission handed South Korea a formal warning for failure to keep up with its international obligation to fight IUUF (see GFBF post: J’accuse!! eNGOs point finger pointed squarely at South Korea as the main IUU tuna fishing nation in African waters on the back of EU accusations).

IUU Fishing vessel from Gabon. Photo by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Source: http://denstormerpresents.com/2013/01/16/top-10-countries-involved-in-illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-fishing/

Though the preliminary listing by the EU will not, at this stage, entail any measures affecting seafood trade, if Korea is designated as a full IUU fishing nation, all fish and fish products caught or manufactured by Korean fleets and their owner companies will be precluded from entering the EU market.

According to Atuna this warning came as a “shock to Korea, which prides itself as being a fishing powerhouse with 344 registered vessels in 2012.” Yet the article implies that this shock cannot be all that ‘unexpected’, noting that since 2010:

“[T]he E.U. urged the Korean government to actively engage in stopping illegal fishing, after a number of international environmental organizations disclosed fishing illegalities by Korean ships. Rumors that the E.U. could issue a warning to the country were common place.”

The South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries claimed that it was talking with the E.U. and Korea would not likely face any penalties. I wrote earlier in this blog that in furtherance of this; South Korea amended their Water Fisheries Act:

“For South Korea the possibility of being blacklisted by the EU is not only embarrassing; it could have real economic impact. Atuna points out, that in July (2013), the Korean National Assembly amended its Water Fisheries Act to help curb illegal fishing. One of the amendments includes an increase in penalties for illegal fishing from a fine of USD 5,000, to a significant maximum fine of three times the value of the fish caught.”

But According to Atuna the EU reportedly did not accept the legislative amendment, maintaining that “the revision lacks control over IUUF.”

In the face of the ‘shock’ as a consequence of being stigmatized as an IUUF nation, the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, in addition to the legislative amendment, instead of fortifying compliance measures, recently suspended the introduction of a compulsory Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), which tracks a fishing vessel’s whereabouts, until July next year. Interestingly China has already made VMS compulsory. It is said that this suspension of compulsory VMS is one of the justifications for the preliminary IUU blacklisting.

The Korean Ministry claimed that enforcing the system which will cost millions of won for each vessel could be a financial burden to companies. However Atuna notes that according to a fishing industry insider, who asked for anonymity, it may be burdensome for some small companies, but it was not a big deal for large companies such as Dongwon, Korea’s largest canned tuna provider.

South Korea’s fishing industry receives yearly a high amount of government subsidies, of which also tuna fishing companies are profiting, some of them directly or indirectly being associated with IUU fishing. Park Ji Hyun of Greenpeace added that “large companies (like Dongwon and Sajo Industries) take about 80 percent of the ministry’s subsidies to the fishing industry amounting to 300 billion won a year.”

South Korean Fishing Vessel. FV Oyang 70

Korea criticizes EU IUU ‘double standard’

According to Seafood Source the EU is facing a backlash from Korean fishermen’s organizations over its 26 November decision to preliminarily add the country to its illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF) list. The Korea Overseas Fisheries Association (KOFA), a group of operators of fishing vessels in international waters, claimed the EU applied a double standard when blacklisting countries.

Yi Whan-woo wrote in the Korea Times that KOFA is criticising the EU for its silence with respect to China, and acknowledged the potential for the EU decision to be at least partly bases on a premise that Korean fishing boats compete with Spanish ones in seas off West Africa.

The association criticized the E.U. for keeping mum about China, saying its decision came partly because Korean fishing boats compete with Spanish ones in seas off West Africa.

According to a spokesperson from KOFA (on condition of anonymity in a telephone interview with The Korea Times):

“The EU’s measure is rational at all, although its true we have performed IUUF activities […]

Chinese fishing boats have also been engaged in a number of IUUF activities but the EU is taking a lenient attitude […]

The Ministry (Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries) has been making efforts to cope with the unions requirements, and it is inappropriate to blacklist a country without giving it sufficient time to meet the demands.

According to the South Korean Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries, the EU has been demanding Korea equip its distant water fishing fleet with VMS, since 2010. It has also asked Seoul to set up a fisheries monitoring center (FMC) that oversees activities of vessels equipped with VMS through a satellite network.

A revised EU regulation requires all distant water fishing vessels operating on the high seas who are selling product entering the EU, must be equipped with a VMS commencing July 2014 The Korean National Assembly approved a bill in July 2013 to require the Ministry and Korean fishing boats to respectively set up an FMC and install VMS by mid-2014.

It would seem that South Korea may end up complying with EU regulations, and will overcome their preliminary black listing. They must. As I said above “for South Korea the possibility of being blacklisted by the EU is not only embarrassing; it could have real economic impact..“

Related articles

• J’accuse!! eNGOs point finger pointed squarely at South Korea as the main IUU tuna fishing nation in African waters on the back of EU accusations (greenfishbluefish.wordpress.com)
• S. Korea displeased with illegal fishing nation designation by EU (koreaherald.com)
• EU Commission: Belize, Cambodia and Guinea Will Face Fish Import Ban (worldmaritimenews.com)
• British NGO joins fight against illegal fishing in Elmina (ghanabusinessnews.com)
• China’s Illegal Fishing Threatens World Waters (businessweek.com)
• Guinea threatened with EU sanctions for illegal fishing (modernghana.com)
• Enough damage now – time for the US to be part of the solution to overfishing in the Pacific (greenpeaceblogs.org)