Law enforcers of the China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel Wanshan remove fish-aggregating devices (FADs) illegally placed by the Philippine side in waters off China's Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea, February 14, 2026 . [AFP]
It is a blow to Kenya's war on Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing following reports that China has refused to sign the Mombasa Declaration at the 11th Our Ocean Conference.
The declaration commits nations to greater transparency regarding vessel ownership, licensing, and tracking to combat IUU. Chinese firms are linked to IUU fishing in the Indian Ocean.
Ghana, Cameroon, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, the Republic of the Congo and Somalia signed the Mombasa Declaration during the conference in June. Belgium, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru and South Korea also signed.
The agreement supports the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, which is expected to improve governance through digital vessel registries and the publication of fishing licences, authorisations, access agreements, and quota allocations.
It is also meant to ensure that all industrial fishing vessels have unique vessel identifiers and that information on the beneficial owners of vessels and fishing companies is collected to target and hold illegal fishing violators accountable.
However, China, which commands the world’s largest distant-water fishing fleet and is the world’s worst illegal fishing offender, according to the IUU Fishing Risk Index, has reportedly not signed it.
Chinese vessels are major contributors to IUU fishing in Kenyan waters and the broader Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) region, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation’s 2024 report.