South China Sea: Filipinos ‘blocked’ from Scarborough Shoal amid concerns over fishing rights

Filipinos are increasingly being blocked from their traditional fishing grounds at Scarborough Shoal by Beijing’s enforcement of its territorial claims in the South China Sea, with new restrictions and aggressive patrolling creating a potential flashpoint over fishing rights and national sovereignty.

The New Masinloc Fishermen’s Association in the town of Masinloc in Zambales said its members had been unable to get closer to Scarborough Shoal ever since the Chinese coastguard began enforcing an anti-trespassing regulation on June 15.

“None from our group can go to Scarborough Shoal now. We tried several times, but the Chinese coastguard blocked our way, and then they will deploy their personnel on board rubber boats to drive us away. Maybe, if we insist on going there, they will arrest us,” Leonardo Cuaresma, the head of the association, told This Week in Asia on Wednesday.

There have been no reports so far of any arrests of Filipino fishermen since the regulation came into force.

Cuaresma said his fishermen had been severely affected by the regulation, noting how they now must fish 40 nautical miles (74km) from the shoal, where most of the fish in the area are. Before the regulation, big fishing boats could get up to 10 nautical miles from the shoal, while smaller boats could fish inside the lagoon.

He also accused the Chinese coastguard of destroying their fish aggregating device set up by the association’s members in Scarborough Shoal.

Under its anti-trespassing regulation, the China Coast Guard says it is authorised to detain foreign nationals for up to 60 days if they are caught trespassing in what it considers to be Beijing’s territorial waters, even if those waters are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

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