Chinese illegal fishing: Argentina increases surveillance

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Since 2020, surveillance operations to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing have intensified, with Chinese-flagged vessels present mainly in February and April. Recently, Argentina’s Armed Forces have strengthened their efforts to monitor the South Atlantic, specifically 200 nautical miles off Argentina’s southern coast.

Despite constant surveillance, the Argentine Navy, through the Maritime Transit Command, has implemented new measures, including a March 1st aerial reconnaissance by the Beechcraft B-200 exploration aircraft, which confirmed no presence of foreign vessels fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—a restricted commercial area where Argentina holds sovereign rights over its resources.

According to CNN, approximately 140 Chinese vessels were located in the region at the end of February, primarily fishing squid, abundant along the Argentine coast. However, this unregulated fishing has a significant impact on the ecosystem, as it disrupts the food chain and, according to experts interviewed by CNN, could lead to an environmental collapse. Additionally, this illegal fishing affects Argentine fishermen, reducing their catch by almost half due to foreign competition.

These fishing vessels are tracked using the Coast Guard System, but many turn off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) to avoid detection while fishing illegally in the EEZ. As a result, they often go unnoticed until nightfall, when they use powerful bright lights to attract squid to the surface.

According to CNN, many of these vessels belong to the Fujian Provincial Pingtan County Ocean Fishing Group Co, a company with a history of illegal fishing. In 2022, it was sanctioned by the United States for transporting the remains of 6,600 sharks in the protected waters of the Galápagos Islands.

Main Source:

Por qué la Armada Argentina se está desplegando para vigilar cientos de barcos pesqueros chinos frente a su costa – CNN en Español

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