Hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels fill the seas near the maritime borders of South American countries. While appearing modest, the fleet of small fishing vessels is among an armada of ships financially supported by the Chinese regime, with a portion potentially involved in illegally fishing other nation’s territorial waters. Off the coast of Argentina, some of these ships are reported to turn off their mandatory tracking devices at night to fish illegally within other nations’ exclusive economic zones. In the Southwest Atlantic, non-profit Oceana cited several incidents of Chinese vessels potentially carrying out illegal fishing. They were reported to have turned off their automated identification systems, which are mandatory under a U.N. treaty signed by China. The report tracked fleet activity along the waters of Argentina, from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 25, 2021. Oceana documented over 6,000 gap events, during which vessels were invisible for more than 24 hours, “hiding fishing vessel …
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