China declined to sign the Mombasa Declaration — a multilateral agreement targeting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing — at the Our Ocean Conference, according to a new report by the Africa Defense Forum (ADF), which alleges that Beijing is the world's worst offender in illegal fishing. The refusal drew sharp scrutiny given that China commands the world's largest distant-water fishing fleet.

What the Mombasa Declaration Covers

The declaration backs a Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency aimed at modernising vessel registries and mandating the publication of fishing licences, authorisations, access agreements, and quota allocations. Under the charter, all industrial fishing vessels would be required to carry unique vessel identifiers, and data on beneficial ownership would be collected to fix accountability on IUU violators.

China's refusal to sign the charter — which also seeks to curb bottom trawling and other destructive practices — underscores deepening bilateral tensions over maritime resource governance, according to the ADF report.

Who Signed the Agreement

Seven African nations — Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, the Republic of the Congo, and Somalia — joined the declaration alongside Belgium, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, and South Korea. China was conspicuously absent from the list of signatories.

The Scale of Illegal Fishing Losses

West Africa loses up to $9.4 billion annually to illegal fishing by Chinese vessels, according to the ADF report. A separate assessment by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania collectively lost up to $142.8 million annually between 2015 and 2021 due to illegal shrimp and tuna fishing.

Emelia Arthur, Ghana's fisheries minister, underlined the human cost at the conference. 'Over 60 per cent of our animal protein comes from fish, and 10 per cent of our population depends on the fisheries value chain for livelihood,' Arthur said, stressing that the survival of entire households in Ghana hinges on fish stocks.

Violations and Tactics Attributed to Chinese Vessels

The ADF report alleges that Chinese fishing vessels engage in a range of violations, most notably bottom trawling — dragging nets along the sea floor to indiscriminately collect marine life. The practice kills juvenile fish, depletes fish stocks, and destroys marine ecosystems. Critics argue that the scale and frequency of these operations amount to systematic resource extraction from sovereign waters.

Taiwan Exclusion and Diplomatic Pressure

The report further alleged that Taiwanese representatives were barred from attending the Global Charter event due to pressure exerted by Beijing. China, it noted, prohibits its diplomatic partners from maintaining formal ties with Taiwan and reportedly holds considerable leverage over Kenya — particularly through debt obligations tied to the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway. The exclusion, critics argue, illustrates how Beijing uses economic and diplomatic leverage to shape multilateral forums beyond its own participation.

With China declining to join the transparency framework, enforcement advocates warn that the charter's impact will remain limited without the participation of the fleet responsible for the largest share of alleged violations.