冻品攻略

Three squid fishing vessels stripped of Vanuatu flag after heavy penalties from Argentina

Source: 冻品攻略2026-04-16 08:000 views0 comments

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Beyond the 200-nautical-mile line in the South Atlantic, an enforcement case involving three squid fishing vessels has continued to attract overseas attention recently. The Vanuatu International Ship Registry confirmed that Bao Feng, Hai Xing 2, Bao Win, three fishing vessels previously flying the Vanuatu flag, have been removed from the Vanuatu registry after being penalized by Argentina in a South Atlantic IUU fishing case. Vanuatu also stated that the three vessels were initially approved for entry into the registry in June 2024, and that the current management, after taking office, strengthened compliance review and adopted removal measures against vessels damaging the flag's reputation.

The case first began to ferment with Argentina's electronic enforcement. The Argentine government reported in March that Bao Feng was identified by the maritime enforcement system on January 10 as having entered Argentina's exclusive economic zone, where the vessel stayed for about 1.5 hours at a speed below 4 knots. Argentina subsequently penalized the vessel with a fine of 1.26 billion Argentine pesos, equivalent to about USD 906,000 based on public reports at the time. Argentina officially released this case as an example of identification through electronic monitoring and completion of penalties, emphasizing that even without actual vessel detention, technical evidence can be relied upon to advance investigations and enforce fines.

Argentina's criteria for determining such cases have also been made public. Under Argentina's SSRAyP 20/2026 regulation, a foreign fishing vessel in Argentina's exclusive economic zone traveling at a speed below 6 knots and exhibiting maneuvering and track behavior consistent with fishing can be presumed to be suspected of violation. In Argentina's "zero tolerance" notice published on March 30, in addition to Bao Feng, Hai Xing 2 and Bao Win were also named. The notice stated that Hai Xing 2 traveled at about 4.3 knots and displayed a typical fishing pattern; Bao Win showed track characteristics such as low speed, repeated backtracking, and limited displacement. This means that Argentina's penalties this time were not simply based on "crossing the 200-nautical-mile line," but on a comprehensive determination based on speed, stay, and fishing-type tracks.

Vanuatu then moved quickly to distance itself. According to public statements by the Vanuatu International Ship Registry, the three vessels will be removed from the national registry because they have brought regulatory and reputational risks to the Vanuatu flag due to Argentina's IUU case. The head of the Vanuatu registry mentioned in public remarks that the country applies "zero tolerance" to IUU fishing and cannot allow relevant vessels to remain on the national registry. This action itself does not involve additional Argentine fines, but it has created a stronger negative demonstration effect at the international level: coastal states are responsible for identification and punishment, while flag states are responsible for flag withdrawal and removal.

The focus of external opinion is not limited to the penalties and flag withdrawal themselves, but is more concentrated on the loopholes in the flag-of-convenience system. Multiple overseas reports pointed out that after the three vessels were removed from the Vanuatu registry, they were quickly linked to new flag arrangements, and the related incidents once again exposed the practical difficulty of problem vessels rapidly switching identities among different registry systems. For the distant-water squid fleet, such operations are not new; for coastal state regulators, the difficulty is not only discovering violations, but also how to truly sustain penalties and subsequent restrictions.

The impact of this incident is no longer limited to the three vessels being fined and stripped of their flag. For China, the greater damage lies in the negative spillover at the level of international public opinion. After the three involved vessels were penalized by Argentina and then removed from the flag registry by Vanuatu, foreign media generally discussed them in the context of "Chinese-background vessels." Problems with individual vessels can easily be amplified by outsiders into a judgment on the compliance level of China's entire distant-water fishery. Especially in the South Atlantic, a sea area highly sensitive to IUU fishing, such incidents will further increase the scrutiny pressure from international markets, coastal state regulators, and industry buyers on China's distant-water fleet, and will also consume the international image that China's distant-water fishery has accumulated over the long term.