Maritime disputes and seafood regimes: a broader perspective on fishing and the Philippines–China relationship

ABSTRACT

In much discussion surrounding the relationship between maritime disputes and fisheries resources, emphasis is given to the role of fisheries resources as a driver of the dispute or how states use fishing to further their interests through territoriality. Yet a narrow focus on maritime disputes obscures the broader ways in which fishing contributes to interstate relationships. This paper uses a political ecology and food regimes approach to demonstrate how seafood flows between the Philippines and China represent power relations. China exports a significant volume of low-value small fish and molluscs from its distant water fishery. The Philippines exports low numbers of high-value reef fish. Current Chinese aquaculture investments are minimal. Poaching forms another component of this seafood regime, which is marked by environmental unsustainability and unequal relations between the Philippines and China. This analysis highlights the value of seeing fishing and fishery resources as constitutive of a broader politicized environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Fisheries conflict
• maritime dispute
• China
• Philippines
• food regime
• seafood

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 For other periodizations of seafood production in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, see Butcher (2004) and Christensen (2014).

2 In other cases, China has used informal sanctions on fish against countries with which it has political disputes (e.g. salmon in the case of Norway [Chen & Garcia, 2016]).

Additional information

Funding

The research for this article was supported by the Australian Research Council [grant number DP140101055 and DP180100965].

Notes on contributors

Michael Fabinyi

Dr Michael Fabinyi is an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His research interests include the social aspects of marine resource use, trade and governance; the role of China in global fisheries; and coastal livelihoods in Southeast Asia.