In a monitoring room in Buenos Aires, a dozen members of the Argentinian coast guard watch giant industrial-fishing ships moving in real time across a set of screens. \u201cEvery year, for five or six months, the foreign fleet comes from across the Indian Ocean, from Asian countries, and from the North Atlantic,\u201d says Cdr Mauricio L\u00f3pez, of the monitoring department. \u201cIt\u2019s creating a serious environmental problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just beyond Argentina\u2019s maritime frontier, hundreds of foreign vessels \u2013 known as the distant-water fishing fleet<\/a> \u2013 are descending on Mile 201, a largely ungoverned strip of the high seas in the South Atlantic, to plunder its rich marine life. The fleet regularly becomes so big it can be seen from space, looking like a city floating on the sea.<\/p>\n The distant-water fishing fleet, seen from space, off the coast of Argentina. Photograph: Alamy<\/p>\n The charity Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has described it as one of the largest unregulated squid fisheries<\/a> in the world, warning that the scale of activities could destabilise an entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cWith so many ships constantly fishing without any form of oversight, the squid\u2019s short, one-year life cycle simply is not being respected,\u201d says Lt Magal\u00ed Bobinac, a marine biologist with the Argentinian coast guard.<\/p>\n There <\/strong>are no internationally agreed catch limits in the region covering squid, <\/strong>and distant-water fleets take advantage of this regulatory vacuum.<\/p>\n Steve Trent, founder of the EJF, describes the fishery as a \u201cfree for all\u201d and says squid could eventually disappear from the area as a result of \u201cthis mad fishing effort\u201d.<\/p>\n The consequences extend far beyond squid. Whales, dolphins, seals, sea birds and commercially important fish species such as hake and tuna depend on the cephalopod. A collapse in the squid population could trigger a cascade of ecological disruption, with profound social and economic costs for coastal communities and key markets such as Spain, experts warn.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this species is affected, the whole ecosystem is affected,\u201d Bobinac says. \u201cIt is the food for other species. It has a huge impact on the ecosystem and biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n She says the \u201cvulnerable marine ecosystems\u201d beneath the fleet, such as deep-sea corals, are also at risk of physical damage and pollution.<\/p>\n An Argentinian coast guard ship on patrol. \u2018Outside our exclusive economic zone, we cannot do anything \u2013 we cannot board them, we cannot survey, nor inspect,\u2019 says an officer. Photograph: EJF<\/p>\n Three-quarters of squid jigging vessels (which jerk barbless lures up and down to imitate prey) that are operating on the high seas are from China, according to the EJF, with fleets from Taiwan and South Korea<\/a> also accounting for a significant share.<\/p>\n Activity on Mile 201 has surged over recent years, with total fishing hours increasing by 65% between 2019 and 2024 \u2013 a jump driven almost entirely by the Chinese fleet, which increased its activities by 85% in the same period, according to an investigation by the charity<\/a>.<\/p>\n The lack of oversight in Mile 201 has enabled something darker too. Interviews conducted by the EJF<\/a> suggest widespread cruelty towards marine wildlife in the area. Crew reported the deliberate capture and killing of seals \u2013 sometimes in their hundreds \u2013 on more than 40% of Chinese squid vessels and a fifth of Taiwanese vessels.<\/p>\n Other testimonies detailed the hunting of marine megafauna for body parts, including seal teeth. The EJF shared photos and videos with the Guardian of seals hanging on hooks and penguins trapped on decks.<\/p>\n One of the huge squid-jigging ships. They also hunt seals, the EJF found. Photograph: EJF<\/p>\n Lt Luciana De Santis, a lawyer for the coast guard, says: \u201cOutside our exclusive economic zone [EEZ], we cannot do anything \u2013 we cannot board them, we cannot survey, nor inspect.\u201d<\/p>\n An EEZ is a maritime area extending up to 200 nautical miles from a nation\u2019s coast, with the rules that govern it set by that nation. The Argentinian coast guard says it has \u201ctotal control\u201d of this space, unlike the area just beyond this limit: Mile 201.<\/p>\n But L\u00f3pez says \u201ca significant percentage of ships turn their identification systems off\u201d when fishing in the area beyond this, otherwise known as \u201cgoing dark\u201d to evade detection<\/a>.<\/p>\n Crews working on the squid fleet are also extremely vulnerable. The EJF\u2019s investigation uncovered serious human rights and labour abuses in Mile 201. Workers on the ships described physical violence, including hitting or strangulation, wage deductions, intimidation and debt bondage \u2013 a system that in effect traps them at sea. Many reported working excessive hours with little rest.<\/p>\n Much of the squid caught under these conditions still enters major global markets in the European Union, UK and North America, the EJF warns \u2013 meaning consumers may be unknowingly buying seafood linked to animal cruelty, environmental destruction and human rights abuse.<\/p>\n The charity is calling for a ban on imports linked to illegal or abusive fishing practices and a global transparency regime that makes it possible to see who is fishing where, when and how, by mandating an international charter to govern fishing beyond national waters.<\/p>\n Cdr Mauricio Lo\u0301pez says many of the industrial fishing ships the Argentinian coastguard monitors turn off their tracking systems when they are in the area. Photograph: Harriet Barber<\/p>\n \u201cThe Chinese distant-water fleet is the big beast in this,\u201d says Trent. \u201cBeijing must know this is happening, so why are they not acting? Without urgent action, we are heading for disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n