[HN Gopher] Hundreds of fishing vessels vanishing along Argentin...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Hundreds of fishing vessels vanishing along Argentina's waters
        
       Author : belter
       Score  : 841 points
       Date   : 2021-06-06 12:28 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (usa.oceana.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (usa.oceana.org)
        
       | mistrial9 wrote:
       | great to see this quantified and publicized widely
        
       | anamax wrote:
       | A vessel without a working tracker is either non-existent or
       | broken.
       | 
       | Broken vessels should be taken to port and kept there until
       | repairs AND said repairs are verified. Verification should
       | consists of "the tracker was on continuously for a week."
       | 
       | If there's no vessel at a given location, it's clearly safe for
       | live-fire targetted at said location.
        
         | sneak wrote:
         | Let's be clear here, though: what you're describing is
         | premeditated murder.
        
       | eatonphil wrote:
       | This isn't Bermuda Triangle kind of vanishing it's about
       | predominantly Chinese vessels going offline to avoid being
       | tracked.
        
         | yorwba wrote:
         | From the article:
         | 
         | > Oceana documented over 800 foreign vessels logging more than
         | 900,000 total hours of apparent fishing. The analysis also
         | revealed that 69% of this fishing activity was conducted by
         | more than 400 Chinese vessels.
         | 
         | ...
         | 
         | > As part of this analysis, Oceana documented more than 6,000
         | gap events, instances where AIS transmissions are not detected
         | for more than 24 hours, which potentially indicates vessels are
         | disabling their public tracking devices. These vessels were
         | invisible for more than 600,000 total hours, hiding fishing
         | vessel locations and masking potentially illegal behavior, such
         | as crossing into Argentina's national waters to fish. The
         | Chinese fleet was responsible for 66% of these incidents.
         | 
         | It appears that Chinese vessels are actually slightly less
         | likely to disable AIS than others?
         | 
         | Edit: from the actual report at the end of the article, which I
         | missed at first:
         | 
         | > While China had the highest total number of gaps, the Spanish
         | fleet appeared to have the worst AIS compliance on a per-vessel
         | basis. Nine out of the 10 fishing vessels that spent the most
         | time with their AIS off were flagged to Spain, despite constant
         | AIS operation being mandatory under European Union law.
         | 
         | I wonder whether that means they can be sued, or whether the
         | responsible regulatory agency would have to take the
         | initiative.
        
           | danparsonson wrote:
           | Just over 50% of the vessels were responsible for 66% of the
           | gap events - that makes them more likely doesn't it?
        
             | yorwba wrote:
             | I was basing it on 69% of fishing time vs. 66% of gaps. Of
             | course it could just be that their average gap is longer.
             | That statistic is unfortunately missing even from the full
             | report, although they must have it if they were able to
             | identify the ten vessels with the longest gaps.
        
               | tw04 wrote:
               | That's kind of missing the point. There were 400 Chinese
               | vessels turning off their AIS to illegally fish. Even if
               | they were turning them off less frequently, the sheer
               | numbers are far more damaging than 9 Spanish ships.
               | 
               | When you have that many vessels you don't need to turn
               | them off as much because you're catching everything that
               | moves in a far shorter period of time.
        
               | yorwba wrote:
               | The relative prevalence is relevant if you want effective
               | regulations. If the EU requirement for constant AIS
               | transmissions is ineffective, then it's unlikely that
               | political pressure on the Chinese government would result
               | in a more effective policy. If, however, the owners of
               | those Spanish vessels are fined enough to force them to
               | end their illegal fishing, then there's hope that
               | introducing similar regulations in China would also
               | effectively curb illegal fishing by Chinese vessels.
               | 
               | Aside: There were actually 316 Chinese vessels with gaps
               | in AIS transmission, 71 Taiwanese, 36 South Korean, 27
               | Spanish, 5 Argentine and 5 unknown ones.
        
         | joegahona wrote:
         | I was disappointed to discover that too -- they're not
         | "vanishing," they're intentionally going offline. Borderline
         | clickbait.
        
         | jiofih wrote:
         | As a very light reading of the article will tell.
        
         | shoto_io wrote:
         | I remember reading back in 2020 about this tiny satellite
         | startup. They are being used by the Galapagos islands to track
         | Chinese fishing boats.
         | 
         | https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/satellite-data-nails-c...
        
         | wutbrodo wrote:
         | Yea, the title is incredibly misleading
        
       | jmartrican wrote:
       | So I guess the rest of the world just has to shut up and take
       | this behavior from China?
        
       | throwawaybchr wrote:
       | At this point the Chinese can do what they want. The own the guy
       | in the White House, and they own Mitch McConnell so nobody can
       | stop them.
       | 
       | The only person who had the temerity to do anything about their
       | bullying was maligned daily because it was fashionable.
        
       | SavantIdiot wrote:
       | This is just enraging. And a reminder that all the fiat currency
       | in the world won't be able to by a tekka maki when there are no
       | more fish.
        
       | cpp_frog wrote:
       | This also happened in Chile, although from the article _it seems_
       | it was not as prevalent as in our neighboring country. (In
       | Spanish) 11 chinese fishing ships spotted in chilean waters, 70
       | (!!!) of them made it to the Atlantic through the Magellan Strait
       | [0], [1], [2].
       | 
       | [0] https://www.cnnchile.com/pais/11-barcos-pesqueros-chinos-
       | zee...
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY3gjXIdZ2g
       | 
       | [2] https://www.infobae.com/america/2020/12/04/armada-de-
       | chile-i...
        
       | voisin wrote:
       | Until the rest of the world diversifies its manufacturing to
       | lessen the power of China, and then regulates it, they will
       | continue to do whatever they want with impunity.
        
         | ed25519FUUU wrote:
         | If the last 5 years shows us anything, largely how much we "do"
         | depends largely on the people in office.
        
           | sangnoir wrote:
           | By "in office" - I assume you mean the C-suite of companies
           | whose profits are reliant on Chinese manufacturing?
        
         | one2three4 wrote:
         | Your commend reminded me of this presentation
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQccNdwm8Tw
        
       | zanethomas wrote:
       | The CCP continues its lawless behaviour.
        
       | diegof79 wrote:
       | As an Argentinian, I can add that sadly this has been happening
       | for years, and it appears on the news for time to time. The
       | vessels are mainly from China, in addition to South Korea, Japan,
       | and Spain.
       | 
       | The economic situation of Argentina means that there are not
       | enough funds to control de coast. So these ships go in and out at
       | the 200 miles that limit the international waters. It's easy to
       | see by satellite, but hard to control with a small and under
       | equipped coast patrol.
        
         | fnord77 wrote:
         | I don't know the details but if private citizens can find these
         | fishing boats, surely the AR Navy could. AR has 3 full-size
         | destroyers, I imagine sailing one through a fishing fleet and
         | even firing a couple shots could chase them off for good?
         | 
         | Unless people are getting paid off to look the other way?
        
           | jb775 wrote:
           | Destroyers require a whole crew. Why not get a handful of WW2
           | era planes with machine guns to patrol the coast? Would be
           | cheap and should be enough firepower to scare off fishing
           | boats.
        
             | phobosanomaly wrote:
             | You'd need boats in the area anyway to gather up the crew
             | when the vessel started taking on water.
        
               | jb775 wrote:
               | ...or you don't guarantee the poachers that luxury.
        
           | ridaj wrote:
           | It would probably chase a few of them off that day. And then
           | they come back the next. There would likely need to be much
           | more concrete repercussions (imprisonment, fines, asset
           | seizures) for it to actually matter...
        
           | phreack wrote:
           | They are. There's also a very high political cost of going
           | against China, even illegal Chinese boats, in a country such
           | as Argentina with a high dependence on Chinese relationships,
           | poor sovereignty enforcement, poor military might, massive
           | debt and inflation. There's just not enough of anything to do
           | something about it.
        
             | fnord77 wrote:
             | yeah, I guess the chinese govt could put a lot of pressure
             | on a country like AR.
        
             | rorykoehler wrote:
             | I don't understand this perspective. It's getting clearer
             | by the day that trying to appease China will come at a far
             | greater cost than virtually any other approach.
        
               | swagasaurus-rex wrote:
               | "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile-hoping it will
               | eat him last." - Winston Churchill
        
           | fencepost wrote:
           | Firing on them could be problematic - at least if you
           | actually sink one. I suspect seizing the vessels and keeping
           | them (returning after payment of ruinous fines) would be more
           | effective.
        
         | layoutIfNeeded wrote:
         | Don't they have any more Exocets leftover from the Falklands
         | War?
        
         | eric__cartman wrote:
         | It's a sad situation not only for us, but for anyone interested
         | in preserving marine life. These ships are destroying the
         | ecosystems in that whole maritime area and all we can do is
         | watch and ask them to stop. If we continue to be powerless to
         | stop that (which sadly we are unless some country steps up and
         | helps by financing the navy) all wildlife in the ocean will be
         | permanently and irreversibly affected.
         | 
         | I sometimes hate humanity as a species. How can a living thing
         | be purposefully so destructive towards it's own planet? The
         | only one it has and will ever have (at least for now we haven't
         | infested any other planet). This is one of the many things that
         | makes me angry knowing there is nothing that will realistically
         | be done to stop it. We will suffer the consequences and these
         | people will then go and fuck up some other sea area until there
         | is nothing left anywhere in the world.
        
           | Dumblydorr wrote:
           | Every person didn't author themselves. They're all driven by
           | innate greed and desire and suffering. The fishermen, the
           | Chinese oligarchs, the Chinese communist party - they're all
           | the center of their own consciousness, each person trying
           | from moment to moment. I pity people, I don't hate them. I
           | may dislike the capitalist system that leads to environmental
           | destruction, but no individual authored our global society.
           | 
           | So, I do see your viewpoint, but looking at individuals is
           | one small slice of the problem, not the whole by any means.
           | We can't count on individual goodness, not when greed or
           | desire is allowed to motivate our leaders so heavily.
        
             | JackFr wrote:
             | It's weird that the Chinese _Communist_ Party manifests the
             | destruction you attribute to the _capitalist_ system. Not
             | wrong -- just weird.
        
               | developer93 wrote:
               | They're more state controlled capitalism than communism
               | these days as I understand it. The name is just a name.
        
           | fastball wrote:
           | Without humanity there would be nobody to witness the fish.
           | The earth doesn't care which species live or die or go
           | extinct. No matter how bad humanity is, the world is a more
           | beautiful place with us in it, because "beauty" as a concept
           | would not exist if we were not here. Mass extinction events
           | happen without human contribution. Is it bad when we make it
           | happen? Yes. But humans are also the only thing around that
           | can help _stop_ extinction events from happening in a
           | universe which doesn 't give a shit about any of us.
        
             | r00fus wrote:
             | Yeah, the planet will exist without humans but i think
             | preserving the planet's beauty for future generations is a
             | worthy goal, no?
             | 
             | Or do you prefer the idea of future environmental dystopia?
        
           | mercy_dude wrote:
           | > I sometimes hate humanity as a species
           | 
           | All of it? I mean hate towards globalization that helped
           | China and other hegemonic dictators with no regards for rule
           | of law continue to do what it does is one thing. Blatant hate
           | for humanity is another.
        
             | ajmurmann wrote:
             | It's not only globalization though. It's mankind's
             | inability to both understand and prioritize long term
             | consequences and to govern the commons properly. The same
             | thing manifests on local levels as well.
        
             | jmartrican wrote:
             | Humanity has always lead to other, at possibly every point
             | in history.
        
               | Jcowell wrote:
               | Yes but all of humanity? All? It's like looking at murder
               | rates and hating Humanity because it murders despite the
               | majority of the global population having not even touch a
               | Gun before.
        
             | eric__cartman wrote:
             | Well that statement may have been a little too aggressive
             | and come off the wrong way. I was quite pissed when wrote
             | that comment. I believe humans can do great things, we
             | really do. I wouldn't have chosen to be born as any other
             | living thing (not that I had a choice anyways lol). It's
             | just the selfishness of some people that results in massive
             | damages that ruins it for the rest of us.
             | 
             | That said we have to realize as a whole that our current
             | way of living is not sustainable and will result is us
             | screwing over future generations that will have to live in
             | an incredibly polluted, and ecologically damaged planet. We
             | have to use our intellect and capacity of achieving
             | anything we put our mind towards and take real, meaningful
             | steps to solve this problem. Before it's too late. There
             | are also many other important global issues that need our
             | attention as a society but that's past the scope of this
             | comment.
        
               | kortilla wrote:
               | > That said we have to realize as a whole that our
               | current way of living is not sustainable and will result
               | is us screwing over future generations that will have to
               | live in an incredibly polluted, and ecologically damaged
               | planet. We have to use our intellect and capacity of
               | achieving anything we put our mind towards and take real,
               | meaningful steps to solve this problem. Before it's too
               | late.
               | 
               | This is what humans have been doing for a long time. The
               | problems were just much more acute for the next
               | generations. Until very recently, most humans were born
               | into scenarios without good shelter, solid water
               | supplies, solid food supplies, general safety, or any
               | medical protection from trivial things like infection let
               | alone anything more complicated.
               | 
               | What's happening here is this poor Chinese fisherman are
               | still dealing with the acute issues (feeding existing
               | family, etc) so the trade of returning home empty handed
               | vs breaking boundaries is too difficult for them to come
               | out on the right side of.
        
           | JPKab wrote:
           | Do keep in mind that there is no other species on the planet
           | that is capable of protecting the ecosystem from the eventual
           | and inevitable asteroid impact.
           | 
           | We might not be there yet but we are going to be the first
           | species in the history of the planet capable of protecting
           | the biosphere from the inevitable assault from the cosmos.
        
             | foobiekr wrote:
             | "Someday we might do something meaningful so bear that in
             | mind when observing the reckless, sadistic and destructive
             | present day behavior" is comic book movie reasoning.
        
               | JPKab wrote:
               | And here I was thinking it was just optimistic.
               | 
               | Everyone that talks about how horrific a cancer the human
               | race is on the planet is a hypocrite because they are
               | still alive themselves. If they really meant it they
               | would take action by ending their own lives. They don't
               | because what they really mean is everyone else is a
               | cancer on the planet except for them. It's a selfish and
               | narcissistic attitude.
        
               | kortilla wrote:
               | Some of us are doing meaningful things to push towards
               | the future. If you feel that there is only reckless,
               | sadistic, and destructive behavior going on, that says
               | more about what you and the people who surround you are
               | doing to help.
        
             | newnamenewface wrote:
             | This is nonsensical extrapolation probably hundreds of
             | years into an ideal future. We aren't there yet and we
             | won't be there for a long time at the current rate of
             | things. Diverting an asteroid of any significant mass is
             | functionally impossible even given years notice today.
        
               | hnxs wrote:
               | Who said anything about diverting it? Or destroying it,
               | if that's the next point your mind is going to.
        
               | CamperBob2 wrote:
               | Huh? Radiation pressure alone is enough to divert an
               | asteroid if you spot it in time. You don't need nukes,
               | just a rocket and enough paint to change the albedo on
               | one side.
        
               | [deleted]
        
         | koheripbal wrote:
         | I don't understand the cost argument. Enforcement is only
         | expensive if you offer minimal punishments.
         | 
         | Other countries have in the past literally board and scuttle
         | trespassing fishing vessels.
         | 
         | Do that, even only a couple times, and few foreign boats will
         | risk the trip. It is cheap to do.
        
           | lostlogin wrote:
           | China will retaliate. China sends naval escorts with its
           | fishing fleet when it goes to Indonesia and countries fear
           | this happening. Chinaa is not shy of threatening economic
           | sanctions either.
        
             | ac29 wrote:
             | The disputes China is having with its neighbors are
             | different. China's official position is that a large part
             | of the South China Sea is their territory, a view that
             | isn't exactly shared by the other nations of the region or
             | most of the international community.
             | 
             | Sending the Chinese Navy into territorial waters off of
             | South America to secure theft of Argentinian natural
             | resources would be a completely different move, and
             | arguably an act of war.
        
               | jrockway wrote:
               | Why would China care about starting a war? The UK had no
               | problems defending the Falklands from Argentina.
        
               | 1MachineElf wrote:
               | >China's official position is that a large part of the
               | South China Sea is their territory
               | 
               | Unfortunate that it's literally called The South _China_
               | Sea. This dispute will likely never go away.
        
               | tomerico wrote:
               | Good thing that India doesn't use this logic (Indian
               | Ocean)
        
           | Tams80 wrote:
           | You underestimate how utterly corrupt a lot of authorities
           | are in Argentina.
           | 
           | Once bribes, 'personal cuts', etc. have been made/taken,
           | there's not much left. Not to mention the kind of culture
           | that breeds.
        
             | tomerico wrote:
             | That's a different argument than cost.
        
               | nicce wrote:
               | One perspective is that these authority positions need to
               | offer better payment to reduce the need for taking the
               | bribe. This will increase costs.
        
           | chaostheory wrote:
           | You need a strong military to enforce rules between
           | countries. Bodies such as the UN and WTO just aren't strong
           | enough to do much if anything beyond a press release. Even if
           | those international bodies were strong enough, I do not feel
           | that they are immune to corruption.
           | 
           | In reality, Argentina would either need to buy or build a
           | respectable navy (too poor), OR publicly ally with the US AND
           | petition that the US Navy enforce Argentina's territorial
           | rights (the US military and its navy are overstretched
           | already).
        
             | eloff wrote:
             | I'm sure the Argentine Navy isn't the best by a long
             | margin. But it should be more than capable of catching and
             | scuttling fishing ships.
        
           | elliekelly wrote:
           | Is there a word for these sorts of "why don't they just..."
           | type of suggestions?
        
             | noughtme wrote:
             | Uninformed.
        
             | burnished wrote:
             | yeah, just guarantee that everyone rocks up to a
             | conversation already enlightened. problem solved, no more
             | questions like that.
        
             | dredmorbius wrote:
             | "Oversimplification" and "trivialisation" come to mind.
        
             | JackFr wrote:
             | It would be great if there where a way to ask "why don't
             | they just...", with an emphasis on the "why" so rather than
             | coming off as an uniformed blowhard one could inform
             | themselves. I suppose a more circumspect way to ask might
             | be "is there a reason they don't ...?"
        
               | regularfry wrote:
               | Leaving out the word "just" does just fine.
        
       | andrewprock wrote:
       | ObOrwell: "The past was alterable. The past never had been
       | altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always
       | been at war with Eastasia."
        
       | marsven_422 wrote:
       | You have the moral right to use deadly force to protect your
       | property.....
        
       | hellbannedguy wrote:
       | When are we going to stop other countries from raping our oceans?
       | 
       | I guess we are afraid of China, and don't want to start an
       | international incident?
       | 
       | (USA dude. Yes--they are encroaching on our water too.)
        
       | cjlovett wrote:
       | And Argentina mysteriously lost a submarine recently too. Hmmm.
       | Did China sink it to protect their illegal fishing?
        
       | belter wrote:
       | Just before:
       | https://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/4046/high-res-gap...
        
       | jl6 wrote:
       | I always imagined fishing vessels doing fairly short range trips
       | to get their catch back to shore maximally fresh. Are there
       | really ships long-hauling round the Cape all the way from China?
        
         | guerrilla wrote:
         | You should look up videos of how fishing works today. The ships
         | deep freeze the fish. Some can them. They are floating
         | factories
        
         | sct202 wrote:
         | On the press release link (idk why it's like the same page but
         | basically longer) there's some more highlights. It seems that
         | there are friendly ports:
         | 
         | >Of the vessels with AIS gaps, 31% of them visited the Port of
         | Montevideo, Uruguay at the end of their trip. This port has
         | allegedly been favored by vessels engaging in illegal activity.
        
         | dalbasal wrote:
         | Yes. Fishing is basically fishing the globe, regardless of
         | where home port is.
        
       | punnerud wrote:
       | Norway just launched the satellite NorSat-3 with the purpose of
       | locating boats that turn off AIS. I see that it passes over this
       | area in Agentina several times each day.
       | 
       | Information about the satellite:
       | https://yaxt25j6l6kcxh7gzsles3njx4-ac5fdsxevxq4s5y-www-romse...
       | 
       | Satellite map where you can see it: https://in-the-
       | sky.org/satmap_worldmap.php
        
         | shoto_io wrote:
         | Wrote it already elsewhere: There are already satellites
         | tracking Fishing fleets
         | 
         | https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/satellite-data-nails-c...
        
         | Qworg wrote:
         | There are several groups working on IUU fishing - I worked on
         | Skylight some at Vulcan: https://vulcan.com/skylight
         | 
         | Lots of opportunity to help! Illegal fishing is the #1
         | contributor to slavery worldwide and is in the top 3 financial
         | crimes.
        
           | spockz wrote:
           | How do you get to work for something like this? Become a
           | software dev for the UN? Vulcan itself are based in Seattle
           | it appears: https://vulcan.com/Careers.aspx
           | 
           | Any European counterparts?
        
             | notahacker wrote:
             | Generally most remote sensing companies work on projects
             | like this (often grant funded PoCs that never see
             | widespread adoption...), since environmental crime is one
             | of the easiest things to identify using satellite imagery
             | and tracking data.
             | 
             | EARSC.org would be a good starting point for some European
             | companies.
        
             | [deleted]
        
       | codezero wrote:
       | This is out of nowhere but how much of a piracy opportunity is
       | this for someone wanting to acquire a few dozen fishing vessels?
       | It sounds like Argentina wouldn't do anything about it.
        
       | prawn wrote:
       | I recently worked as drone photographer on a cruise along remote
       | Australian coastline. One of the guest lecturers on board worked
       | for decades with/alongside the navy, apprehending or fending off
       | illegal fishing boats entering protected waters on AU's NW
       | Kimberley coast.
       | 
       | Back in the 1700s, there were Indonesians coming down to collect
       | sea cucumbers for the Chinese market:
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makassan_contact_with_Australi...
       | 
       | Not sure if it's current policy, but the guest lecturer described
       | an assessment process for boats they apprehended. A vintage all-
       | wooden boat with no electricity/etc was allowed to continue their
       | traditional fishing practices in the area. A modern boat with
       | powered outboard, metal/fibreglass hull, etc was seized and
       | destroyed. There was a third class I can't recall that was
       | somewhere in between.
       | 
       | I can see something like this being a way forward, where you can
       | fish smallscale for personal use (yacht crew subsisting on
       | whatever they can catch) or small commercial use with a certain
       | style of boat and catching method. Any bigger operations would be
       | restricted to specific zones, or captured and destroyed with
       | little warning.
        
       | helsinkiandrew wrote:
       | There was a good backgrounder on illegal fishing and detecting
       | vessels that have turned off their AIS a few months ago in the
       | economist:
       | 
       | https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/03/18/...
       | 
       | archive.org:
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20210508222031/https://www.econo...
        
         | mhb wrote:
         | Also somewhat relevant:
         | 
         |  _We uncovered how one ship helped North Korea get oil despite
         | sanctions_
         | 
         | https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/world/winson-north-korea-...
        
       | holografix wrote:
       | They need to start being sunk.
        
         | aeoleonn wrote:
         | That's what I think as well.
         | 
         | I don't think there's any negotiating with willfully negligent
         | and dishonest Chinese industries & government.
         | 
         | To be honest, I am hoping the entire world soon turns against
         | China. Maybe once enough of western industry is extricated from
         | China.
        
         | dismalpedigree wrote:
         | Covert mines. No attribution. Better yet buy the mines from
         | China. Once ships start disappearing they will think twice
         | about entering illegal waters.
        
           | magicsmoke wrote:
           | Up until those mines end up sinking Argentinian fisherman or
           | a unrelated cargo vessel that happens to be passing through.
        
         | rodrigoap wrote:
         | A few video footages of the coast guard engaging the Chinese
         | ships.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pesca+ilegal+ch...
        
         | Gustomaximus wrote:
         | I don't think violence is a good option. Also consider there
         | are likely the working poor on the boats, even systems of slave
         | labour.
         | 
         | Far better would be to catch them, fly the crew home and and
         | auction the vessels.
         | 
         | In Australia they do similar but burn the boats as these tend
         | to be smaller vessels made of wood. The thought that you'll
         | lose your boat for a catch if fish is a huge deterrent.
        
           | holografix wrote:
           | Violence is never a "good" option but to paraphrase Winston
           | Churchill: you don't negotiate with a dragon while your head
           | is in its mouth.
           | 
           | Sinking some of these vessels would attract the right amount
           | of international attention and force action. Seizing and
           | destroying is a worth while risk and a "cost of doing
           | business".
           | 
           | You want to play a game of cat and mouse? You're one cat
           | they're many many more mice.
        
             | hungryforcodes wrote:
             | Until they start coming with armed escorts.
        
               | MrRiddle wrote:
               | Let's see anyone firing at US Navy destroyer.
        
               | aoeusnth1 wrote:
               | That would justify a significant escalation of force. I
               | don't see that happening.
        
             | dredmorbius wrote:
             | Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. (Qiang
             | Gan Zi Li Mian Chu Zheng Quan )
             | 
             | -- Mao Ze Dong
             | 
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power_grows_out_of_
             | t...
        
         | nickthemagicman wrote:
         | That was my first instinct as well.
         | 
         | Argentina needs an unmarked police force to protect its oceans.
         | 
         | These ships go unmarked they get sunken by an unmarked military
         | force.
        
         | mythrwy wrote:
         | How about (if we are going that direction) boarded and
         | impounded first?
         | 
         | Make a big show of releasing the perps back to their home
         | country and keep the ships.
        
       | albertTJames wrote:
       | Cases like this are just proof decentralised/deregulation
       | argument would destroy the earth. Governments and international
       | agencies need more power to control these behaviors.
        
       | psychlops wrote:
       | One U-Boat will solve that problem.
        
       | jvanderbot wrote:
       | When we visited South Africa, locals made a point of showing the
       | Chinese fishing vessels that had mechanical troubles and were
       | forced to dock in Cape Town. The locals refused to service them,
       | and the anglers lived on their boats in drydock.
       | 
       | This is well known throughout the world, but my suspicion is that
       | governments receive enough Chinese investment (personal or
       | otherwise) that they turn the other cheek. SA in particular had
       | whole quarters of industrial areas that had only Chinese signage,
       | and were wholly owned by China / Chinese businesses.
        
         | option wrote:
         | I hope they charged them A LOT of docking fees
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | quattrofan wrote:
       | Time to start sinking these fuckers. I know Argentina is not in
       | the best economic shape but surely they could team up with other
       | s.american countries to deal with China plundering their
       | resources illegally. Otherwise China is literally going to empty
       | the oceans, i suspect part of the reason they are traveling so
       | far is they've turned their own shores into deadzones.
        
       | bitL wrote:
       | Would one random airplane bombing of a ship with turned off AIS
       | inside territorial waters with no further comments move the
       | problem away?
        
       | Havoc wrote:
       | Same off the coast of Africa
        
       | thissuchness wrote:
       | In my opinion, Argentina should announce that, after $DATE, they
       | will seize such ships and auction them off. Any amount of
       | enforcement afterward should be enough to significantly deter
       | violation of their waters by these fleets.
        
       | yumraj wrote:
       | Serious question, why can't Argentinian navy/coast guard
       | capture/sink these boats?
       | 
       | Is there a convention/rule?
        
       | ashneo76 wrote:
       | This is tragic and heart breaking
        
         | bserge wrote:
         | Thoughts and prayers, eh?
         | 
         | Not blaming you or anyone, I'm powerless, too. Just kinda
         | useless to say "oh how tragic".
        
           | ashneo76 wrote:
           | I don't think it is useless to say that. I don't think you
           | should hold back from saying that.
           | 
           | I think we should recognize it and raise awareness to it as
           | much as possible. I don't advocate for veganism, either. I
           | advocate that fish and other food that is so hard to
           | replenish be used and treated like a delicacy.
           | 
           | Today by luck we caught an octopus and by luck I was at the
           | market when the ship came in with the catch. Instead of an
           | octopus everyday for every meal. That is not going to
           | sustain. Same for other foods.
           | 
           | But the downside of making octopus and other food a delicacy
           | is that that is the reason why everybody wants it soo which
           | creates the demand causing this.
           | 
           | I am thinking it out loud here.
        
       | dwt204 wrote:
       | The only take away that I have is that the Chinese would have a
       | serious issue, if any nation was caught in their territorial
       | waters, especially on this scale. You have to remember that this
       | article is focused on Argentina, but PRC has signficant and large
       | global fleets roaming the seven seas causing havoc in many
       | maritime zones. Like I said before imagine Japan doing this to
       | the PRC. Significant punitive military and diplomatic action
       | would have been taken. The PRC has to stop this kind of
       | hypocritical behavior.
        
         | onethought wrote:
         | Which maritime zones do you mean? From what I've read China is
         | only in maritime zones directly around it, with some ships as
         | far west as Iran to protect trade routes from pirates.
         | 
         | Are you referring to something specific?
        
       | legohead wrote:
       | Thought I forgot my geography for a second.. Argentina is so far
       | away from China. I guess they still pull in a profit though?
        
       | joezydeco wrote:
       | Enrique Pineyro flew his personal 787-8 (!) over the area and
       | uploaded this video:
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/epineyro_ok/status/1378112721628114947
       | 
       | ADS-B track: https://i.imgur.com/1wxAkK2.jpg
       | 
       | "Last night we flew at 5000 feet over the foreign fishing fleet
       | that preys on our seas, causing ecological disasters. They
       | weren't at mile 201, they were well in our territorial waters."
       | 
       | (courtesy /r/aviation and gTranslate)
        
         | mongol wrote:
         | What is their coast guard up to?
        
           | kilroy123 wrote:
           | Probably not much. The country has been going through an very
           | bad financial crisis.
           | 
           | https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-economy-gdp-
           | idU...
        
             | mgarciaisaia wrote:
             | > The country has been going through an very bad financial
             | crisis.
             | 
             | It doesn't matter when you read this.
        
             | Freestyler_3 wrote:
             | looks like an opportunity to make money and create jobs
        
           | raverbashing wrote:
           | Don't assume they are able to get out of their own inertia to
           | defend themselves on this.
           | 
           | "Oh the ship disappeared? What are you going to do?"
           | 
           | I can't help but be cynical in this situation. If their Coast
           | Guard is as efficient as their ATC that's what you can
           | expect.
        
           | est wrote:
           | The fleet vanishes in International waters outside the EEZ.
        
             | rob74 wrote:
             | Yeah, but if a hobby pilot can fly over the area and find
             | dozens of ships, the Navy/Coast Guard could do the same -
             | send out an airplane to check, and then send a few boats
             | over if it finds something?
        
               | toomuchtodo wrote:
               | Drones are perfect for this use case, as they have long
               | loiter abilities at higher altitudes. Low single digit
               | Global Hawk fleets can provide high availability over
               | large amounts of geography.
        
               | rdtwo wrote:
               | Perfect use cause for automated killer drones
        
               | rafale wrote:
               | I wonder if commercial satellite photography can do the
               | job during night time.
        
               | touisteur wrote:
               | Probably best for the job at night would be SAR? A bit
               | more costly than photography though I guess... Coastal
               | radar, with range up to 100 Nmi might also do the job.
               | But what's the use if you're not sending in the cavalry?
        
               | dolmen wrote:
               | It does. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27414962
        
               | hadlock wrote:
               | Radar on an oceanic buoy is probably more efficient.
               | Ocean buoys are giant metal spheres with some concrete
               | ballast to add stability, attached via steel cable to an
               | old train freight car used as an anchor. You can throw a
               | couple hundred watts of solar and electronics on there no
               | problem. There's hundreds of these things scattered about
               | in the ocean for oceanic research/weather forecasting,
               | not a new technology. Modern, consumer-grade solid state
               | radar ($1200, off the shelf at Amazon or West Marine,
               | google "4G radar") can pick up seagulls sitting on the
               | water at 500 feet, or track a tiny ski 4 person boat at
               | 10 miles.
               | 
               | Before you ask, no, there is no such thing as a stealth
               | radar fishing boat.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | potiuper wrote:
           | Monroe doctrine implies the US navy has ownership too.
        
             | everybodyknows wrote:
             | US navy does not "own" Argentine waters.
             | 
             | Maybe US could help Argentina enforce its fishing rights,
             | in return for a lease of port space. The sort of win-win
             | arrangement that builds mutual good will.
        
               | adolph wrote:
               | Would the benefit of potentially decreased fishing
               | outweigh the cost to the current gov't of pissing off the
               | CCP?
        
               | ac29 wrote:
               | The CCP is not going to publicly get behind illegal
               | fishing operations. Perhaps they tolerate it behind
               | closed doors, but taking a stance that violating another
               | countries sovereign waters is OK would be politically
               | insane.
        
               | niij wrote:
               | I wouldn't say so. Nearly every country that borders the
               | South China Sea is having their sovereignty trampled on
               | right now https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_dis
               | putes_in_the_...
        
               | notahacker wrote:
               | That's China _claiming_ sovereignty over that particular
               | sea though. China publicly taking the stance that all
               | waters were international would be the opposite of that
        
               | Jeff_Brown wrote:
               | Good question. How much leverage does China have over
               | Argentina? It seems unlikely that Argentina exports much
               | to China. It surely imports a lot but China doesn't seem
               | to punish anyone by limiting its own exports.
        
               | huntertwo wrote:
               | https://tradingeconomics.com/argentina/exports-by-country
               | 
               | China accounts for 11% of Argentina's exports. I'd
               | imagine a lot of it is soy and maybe lithium.
        
               | Jeff_Brown wrote:
               | Wow! And most of that is agriculture. And perhaps
               | ironically, about 6% of Argentine exports to China are
               | "Fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatics invertebrates".
               | 
               | The World Bank says[2] that exports make up 14.25% of
               | Argentine GDP. Assuming no substitution, if China cut off
               | all Argentine exports, it would therefore reduce
               | Argentine GDP by 1.56% -- a very big deal. There would of
               | course be substitution, so that's a weak upper bound.
               | 
               | And maybe an extremely weak one. According to this[3]
               | (apparently Australian news outlet which I admit I've
               | never heard of), China's trade sanctions against
               | Australia following the latter's suggestion that the
               | world look more into the origins of the coronavirus only
               | reduced Australian exports to China by 2%.
               | 
               | [1] https://tradingeconomics.com/argentina/exports/china
               | 
               | [2] https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/ARG#:~:t
               | ext=Arg....
               | 
               | [3] https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-
               | economy/c....
        
               | lostlogin wrote:
               | Being scared of the bully is how we got here. This
               | behaviour is happing all over the pacific, and due to
               | dependence on Chinese money, China gets away with it.
        
               | throwawayboise wrote:
               | China seems to get away with whatever they want lately.
               | When are "we" going to stop tolerating their wanton
               | disregard for global ecological and human rights
               | standards?
        
               | bobthechef wrote:
               | Honestly, probably nothing. There is no will to do
               | anything about increasing Chinese belligerence and I
               | suspect a fair amount of perks offered by China to keep
               | it that way. Look at the silence about the Uyghurs.
               | Nobody cares about them. Why would they care about some
               | fish? (Granted, people often care more about fish than
               | human beings.)
        
               | dillondoyle wrote:
               | Maybe if (when) they get aggressive with Taiwain, TSMC.
               | 
               | Or if lab leak was proven, or lab leak + it was a product
               | GOF deliberately created to infect humans it could
               | provide enough public support to back it. I think there
               | are enough hawks in government. Good or bad, a hot or
               | 'warm' war is a huge and devastating step without huge
               | public support across many nation coalitions. Don't want
               | iraq 2.0 with weapons of mass infection that turn out to
               | not be true.
        
             | rtkwe wrote:
             | Ah yes the doctrine used to justify things like training
             | and arming right wing death squads to put down popular
             | uprisings because it might introduce communism into the
             | Americas...
        
           | iagovar wrote:
           | I've been following the situation in Argentina for some
           | years, and it seems that their military is tired of fighting
           | with the political class for the appropriate resources. They
           | seem to be technically competent, but the resource allocation
           | is a joke.
        
             | the_af wrote:
             | Pineyro's own documentary, "Fuerza Aerea S.A." ("Air Force
             | Inc") showed otherwise: our military is incompetent,
             | reckless & corrupt. Their handling of commercial airports,
             | until taken from them by the government, was so terrible
             | and reckless you _really_ didn 't want to fly in Argentina.
             | Any mistake was covered up because that's how our military
             | is used to behaving.
             | 
             | Also remember we Argentinians suffered a bloody
             | dictatorship in the 70s, complete with illegal detentions,
             | torture and executions, and while of course the military
             | renews itself with new people, some sectors of it still
             | haven't come to terms with their past (some remain who
             | actually sympathize with the dictatorship or were involved
             | in it).
             | 
             | So no, what you're describing is not the full picture.
        
               | touisteur wrote:
               | Was surprised to learn some years ago that in Brazil the
               | military was responsible for civilian air traffic
               | management. That seemed so wild at the time. Don't know
               | if it's still the case...
        
               | devtul wrote:
               | Still is, you must join the air force to work as an ATC.
        
               | riffraff wrote:
               | My father was in air traffic control in Italy and it was
               | a military thing until 1979 or so.
        
               | speeder wrote:
               | Still is the case. But here they take that job very
               | seriously.
               | 
               | I even saw a higher up personally helping once, I was in
               | an open source tech conference, and a colonel was present
               | to show the air force work using Ubuntu and Debian, while
               | chatting with him he got a phone call about a radar
               | issue, he immediately picked up a laptop and started to
               | fire up some domestic made tech and started helping the
               | operators directly.
               | 
               | If the timing wasn't seemly so random I would think they
               | did it on purpose just to show off the cool tech.
        
               | touisteur wrote:
               | I don't know how to reconcile the safety culture of
               | 'telling the truth no matter what' and not blaming, with
               | the chain-of-command, authority and obeying orders sir-
               | yes-sir of the military. I probably have a very warped
               | view of military leaders, but I know which customers ask
               | for the 'safety override' button...
        
               | Nexxxeh wrote:
               | A safety override in the military is a safety feature in
               | itself.
               | 
               | In battle, overriding a safety feature might be the
               | difference between returning fire and saving the ship and
               | crew, or losing all hands.
        
               | belter wrote:
               | "Fuerza Aerea S.A." ("Air Force Inc") here:
               | 
               | https://youtu.be/0sZycpaEgkU
        
             | coliveira wrote:
             | Argentinian military, like in most of south America, is
             | completely corrupt and should really stop existing for the
             | good of its people. Whenever they have resources they use
             | it to fuel military dictatorships.
        
               | is_true wrote:
               | I don't know. A lot of the countrys infrastructure was
               | built by the military.
        
           | Tams80 wrote:
           | What coast guard?
           | 
           | You'd have better luck getting the British to send their OPV
           | based in the Falklands over than get any meaningful response
           | from what little of the Argentine armed forces or other
           | authorities have.
        
           | dghughes wrote:
           | Check out the Turbot War when we in Canada sent Navy ships to
           | confront Spanish fishing vessesls in international waters
           | illegally overfishing. Spain and Germany also sent warships.
           | But Ireland and the UK didnt (foreshadowing the biggest gripe
           | of Brexit?) Turbot/halibut is a type of fish.
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbot_War
        
             | touisteur wrote:
             | You mean, Turbot is a delicious type of fish. I'd
             | understand sending in the navy. Especially since it is
             | (iirc) a fish that stays down near the 'ground' so to fish
             | them properly you need some specific kind of equipment or
             | you destroy ecosystems?
        
               | enriquto wrote:
               | on the other hand, it is one of the few species of fish
               | that can be farmed effectively inland, and the farmed
               | ones are just as delicious
        
               | touisteur wrote:
               | Oh, farmed turbot? I'll have to look at that, thanks.
        
             | masklinn wrote:
             | International water is a somewhat different situation, this
             | is within Argentina's exclusive economic zone.
             | 
             | Also
             | 
             | > But Ireland and the UK didnt
             | 
             | Yes one can only wonder why the UK would side with Canada
             | over the EU.
             | 
             | > foreshadowing the biggest gripe of Brexit?
             | 
             | Only the biggest nonense of the brexit nonsenses.
             | 
             | Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars. In fact, the
             | UK's hypocritical support of Canada in the conflict led
             | Iceland to declare for Spain / the EU.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | ralgozino wrote:
           | I can tell you about one thing that I didn't find mentioned.
           | Argentina's Naval Prefecture is using a product called
           | Galatea Watcher from Ascentio Technologies (they are the main
           | contractor for Argentina's Space Agency and have developed
           | the ground segment and done operations for them). This
           | product does pretty much the same as in the article: it takes
           | satellite imagery from several sources, does image processing
           | and detection on them and cross-references it with AIS
           | reports from vessels and alerts all the suspicious activity.
           | One could see all the ships getting positioned just in the
           | international border and then disappear by night. This is a
           | well known issue.
           | 
           | Disclaimer: I used to work for Ascentio.
        
             | 7373737373 wrote:
             | So do these satellites only have RGB channels? What about
             | infrared?
        
               | is_true wrote:
               | Argentina has it's own SARs to do the same.
        
               | bo0tzz wrote:
               | IIRC, the resolution on infrared satellite imaging is way
               | lower
        
               | ralgozino wrote:
               | They use several sources an different type of imagery,
               | both of public access and private
        
               | geoduck14 wrote:
               | > IIRC, the resolution on infrared satellite imaging is
               | way lower
               | 
               | I have some buddies that are working on improving this!
        
           | baybal2 wrote:
           | I will surprise you, even USA has a problem catching all
           | Chinese fishing ships near Hawaii.
           | 
           | There is simply that much of them. Chinese fishing fleet is
           | world's biggest, and they have 1 gigaton a year steel output
           | to make more.
        
             | rafale wrote:
             | At some point, the only option is to sink them and drop
             | life jackets in the area.
        
               | throwaway894345 wrote:
               | The sad thing is the people out there on the boats are in
               | all likelihood just trying to scrape a living and the
               | people who deserve to be in harm's way are higher up the
               | economic ladder. There are a lot of world problems that
               | amount to "no one holds China accountable" (and to a
               | lesser extent, first world nations don't do enough to
               | hold themselves accountable), and I would really like for
               | countries to tax and/or sanction China for their negative
               | externalities (e.g., pollution, overfishing) it would
               | make the world a much better place--either China starts
               | to compete fairly or else they lose the wealthiest
               | markets to the advantage of the whole world and
               | especially countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central
               | Asia, and South America who would fill the manufacturing
               | void.
               | 
               | Mandatory disclaimer for the pro-China accounts: I'm very
               | much not interested in deflecting to the West's problems
               | --they exist, but they don't excuse China (nor does
               | China's bad behavior excuse that of the West's). This
               | kind of deflection is just a race to the bottom.
        
               | KirillPanov wrote:
               | > The sad thing is the people out there on the boats are
               | in all likelihood just trying to scrape a living
               | 
               | Bullshit, somebody on board is _turning off the ship 's
               | transponder_. They know that they are doing something
               | criminal.
        
               | throwaway894345 wrote:
               | "Desperate" doesn't imply "legally innocent". In
               | particular, China has an abundance of desperate people (I
               | won't remark on its political system), so punishing the
               | desperate in this case probably won't move the needle.
               | 
               | Further, and I say this as someone who prefers to err on
               | the tough-on-crime side, it's unjust to punish the
               | desperate when the wealthy are pulling the strings,
               | raking in the profit, and bearing none of the risk.
        
               | CalRobert wrote:
               | There's a decent chance the crew includes enslaved
               | people.
        
               | aww_dang wrote:
               | Argentine coast guard opens fire on Chinese fishing boat
               | (2019)
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3lkM4t8AaA
               | 
               | Argentina sinks Chinese fishing ship that entered
               | restricted area(2016)
               | 
               | >"The offending ship continued to maneuver in an attempt
               | to cause a collision" (0:20)
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00rMVee0R4c
               | 
               | >Therefore, the concept of people's war was applied to
               | the sea with fishermen and other nautical laborers being
               | drafted into a maritime militia.
               | 
               | >Most vessels are issued with navigation and
               | communication equipment while some are also _issued_
               | _small_ _arms_. The communications systems can be used
               | both for communication and espionage. Often fishermen
               | supply their own vessels, however, there are also core
               | contingents of the maritime militia who operate vessels
               | fitted out for militia work instead of fishing; _these_
               | _vessels_ _feature_ _reinforced_ _bows_ _for_ _ramming_
               | and high powered water cannons. The increasing
               | sophistication of militia vessels ' communication
               | equipment is a double-edged sword for Chinese
               | authorities. New equipment, as well as training in its
               | use, has substantially improved command, control, and
               | coordination of militia units. However, the vessels'
               | resulting professionalism and sophisticated maneuvers
               | make them more identifiable as government-sponsored
               | actors, dampening their ability to function as a gray-
               | zone force.
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Armed_Forces_Mar
               | iti...
               | 
               | S. Korean Coast Guard fires machine gun in warning to
               | illegal Chinese fishing boats
               | 
               | >"They were surrounded and threatened by some 30 other
               | fishing boats" (0:17)
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42AWXEzcoFk
               | 
               | You don't need to look very far to find reports like
               | this. There are too many incidents to list here.
        
               | belter wrote:
               | Taking into account the size of the problem, most persons
               | would just assume these were the ones that did not pay
               | the bribes...
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | Mountain_Skies wrote:
             | The big question is what can a nation do to stop this? The
             | normal diplomatic and legal avenues don't seem to do much.
             | A ship here and there can be seized but much like fines
             | that are slaps on the wrist for large corporations, there's
             | too much economic value in violating the rules. A seized
             | ship now and then is a small price to pay for access to
             | everyone else's fishing areas. There don't seem to be any
             | good escalation paths that aren't morally unconscionable.
        
               | rasz wrote:
               | this seems to work
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRyCsv7CcnI
        
               | dredmorbius wrote:
               | This video claims to show the Russian navy firing on
               | Somali pirates.
               | 
               | One narrative concerning piracy off the coast of Somalia
               | is that incursion of foreign fishing fleets took away the
               | opportunity for lawful livelihoods for those living in
               | Somalia. Which in the context of this post is ...
               | troublingly ironic.
        
               | narrator wrote:
               | If the Somalis were just attacking illegal fishing boats,
               | they'd have a lot more moral authority for what they're
               | doing.
        
               | chkaloon wrote:
               | Awful lot of ammo that misses completely. Not a very
               | efficient weapon or just poor targeting it seems.
        
               | seanmcdirmid wrote:
               | > The big question is what can a nation do to stop this?
               | 
               | Really the only nation that can stop this is China.
        
               | tpmx wrote:
               | Individual nations can't do much on their own. Groups of
               | nations can wage economic warfare.
        
               | nostromo wrote:
               | Commandeer the ships and auction them off for scrap at
               | home. Arrest and charge the fishermen.
               | 
               | If they flee, sink the ship.
               | 
               | They'll catch on.
        
               | silexia wrote:
               | I agree, this is the only effective solution.
        
               | jdasdf wrote:
               | >The big question is what can a nation do to stop this?
               | 
               | Thats why navies exist.
               | 
               | You send a handful of frigates and bombers there and
               | start sinking ships.
        
               | weatherlight wrote:
               | Time to start sinking ships.
        
               | tshaddox wrote:
               | There are obvious reasons why killing people with one's
               | military isn't the most desirable way to protect one's
               | national waters.
        
               | bobthechef wrote:
               | Or some kind of tech like microwaves that causes the
               | fisherman (or the fish?) to scatter.
        
               | geoduck14 wrote:
               | Hire the CRACKEN!!!!
        
               | op00to wrote:
               | Start accrediting privateers to protect the waters!
        
               | narrator wrote:
               | Letters of Marque and Reprisal.[1] This is how the early
               | U.S fought the Barbary pirates in the Barbary Wars[2] in
               | the early days of the republic. This power is actually
               | authorized explicitly in the U.S Constitution.
               | 
               | [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
               | 
               | [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War
        
               | splitstud wrote:
               | Our 21st century take: sell the rights to the history
               | Channel for a pirates reality series
        
               | Seanambers wrote:
               | It is kind of amazing that the Chinese gets away with
               | this.
        
               | stanislavb wrote:
               | I think it's too late to stop China
        
               | Leader2light wrote:
               | Bingo, US is fading out.
        
         | patentatt wrote:
         | Didn't know who this was, so I looked him up. Who has a
         | personal 787? Turns out he's an Argentine actor and film
         | magnate who is an ex-commercial pilot. I guess that's one way
         | to come to own your own ~$122m aircraft.
        
           | cosmodisk wrote:
           | His Wikipedia entry reads like he's some sort of MacGyver
           | meets Batman and goes business.
        
           | belter wrote:
           | Also interview during the flight here:
           | https://youtu.be/jCCJQjEq4b8 (In Spanish but subtitles will
           | work well for English translation)
        
           | elondaits wrote:
           | He's also the nephew of Paolo Rocca, CEO of the Techint
           | conglomerate (steel, mining, oil and gas, etc.) and worth
           | $3.7 billion according to Wikipedia.
        
             | geoduck14 wrote:
             | Is he single?
        
           | jb1991 wrote:
           | John Travolta also has his own 707, which he flies himself.
        
           | devb wrote:
           | That reminds me of the Iron Maiden 747, piloted by their
           | singer:
           | 
           | https://simpleflying.com/iron-maiden-747/
        
             | tonyedgecombe wrote:
             | And John Travolta with a 707.
        
               | failwhaleshark wrote:
               | IIRC, he had it parked right up to his house.
        
               | wp381640 wrote:
               | He has donated it to a great aircraft museum in Australia
               | - it should be making its way down this year.
               | 
               | They have spent years getting it back to spec to make the
               | trans-pacfic flight back home
        
               | Judgmentality wrote:
               | The irony of not being able to the transport the thing
               | that usually transports the things.
        
               | laurent92 wrote:
               | Would have been easier to ship by boat, even without
               | dismounting it, since it's the cheapest transportation.
               | But it seems I'm wrong, since they didn't do it.
        
               | dolmen wrote:
               | Well, if the aim is to make it fly anyway (not just show
               | on the ground)...
        
             | failwhaleshark wrote:
             | The owners of the now defunct Fry's Electronics also owned
             | the Arena Football team the San Jose SaberCats and
             | additionally owned/leased/rented/sponsored various aircraft
             | including a 747 SP.
             | 
             | 1968 GULFSTREAM G1159B N24YS (still owned by the Fry
             | family)
             | 
             | 1976 ROCKWELL NA-265-60 N607CF (now owned by an airshow)
             | 
             | 1955 PIPER PA-23 N3494B (owned by someone else)
             | 
             | 1971 GULFSTREAM G1159B N44YS (still owned by the Fry
             | family)
             | 
             | 1976 ROCKWELL NA-265-60 N39CB (now owned by an airshow)
             | 
             | 1977 DEHAVILLAND CANADA DHC-6-300 N814BC (still owned by
             | the Fry family)
             | 
             | 1978 BOEING 727-281(A)(RE) N724YS (now registered to a UK
             | blind trust)
             | 
             | 1980 BOEING 747SP-27 N747A (now owned by NASA)
             | 
             | 1981 ROCKWELL NA-265-65 N88BF (still owned by the Fry
             | family)
             | 
             | 1981 ROCKWELL NA-265-65 N654YS (still owned by the Fry
             | family)
             | 
             | 1992 BEECH B300 N4YS (still owned by the Fry family)
             | 
             | 2011 GULFSTREAM G280 N38GL (now owned by a casino
             | corporation)
        
               | kart23 wrote:
               | Wow this reminded me, I saw the fry's 747 at an airshow.
               | I was pretty young at the time, but it was crazy seeing a
               | 747 fly so low.
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G4z63PShc
        
             | toyg wrote:
             | I'm not a fan of Iron Maiden's music but from all I read
             | they sound like absolute top blokes. They also licensed
             | "Eddie" to Robinsons Brewery, a smallish company based in
             | Stockport, to produce their "Trooper" beer - which is
             | actually pretty fine.
        
               | salmo wrote:
               | Spent some time in Brimingham. Worked crazy hours, but
               | would wander at night.
               | 
               | Local beer was a little rare in the places around our
               | hotel (probably because we were near Broad Street), but
               | they had "Trooper" at Malt House. It was actually really
               | great.
               | 
               | That may also be influenced by the fact that I mostly
               | only could get foreign light lagers everywhere else, and
               | Malt House was a great place to relax on the canal a
               | little away from the Hen Party craziness.
        
             | fnord77 wrote:
             | 403 Forbidden :(
        
               | tim333 wrote:
               | ha - works ok from here
        
           | thatguy0900 wrote:
           | I have to imagine maintenance and storage of a 787 is way
           | worse than the purchase price
        
             | akiselev wrote:
             | According to [1], it costs United about $15,000 an hour to
             | run their 787. Of that, $7,371 finances the plane ("ac
             | cost"), $786 for maintenance ("mx"), $5,259 for fuel, and
             | $1,335 for crew. I'm assuming industry average utilization
             | of roughly ~4000 hours a year of flight time so that works
             | out to about $3 million in maintenance and $28 million in
             | loan repayments per year.
             | 
             | Thing is, you have to keep the 787 flying - they're not
             | designed to be parked for weeks or months at a time.
             | Normally that'd be a problem for a business jet since
             | they're little more than toys for rich people but the 787
             | is up to 20% more fuel efficient than comparable older
             | models. As long as its set up for cargo, the owner can just
             | rent it out and have someone else cover the majority of the
             | maintenance burden. It wouldn't be profitable, but if you
             | need (or want) a brand new commercial jet, it's an easy way
             | to subsidize that cost.
             | 
             | [1] https://www.planestats.com/bhsw_2014sep
        
               | jimbob45 wrote:
               | The question then is whether he owns it and farms it out
               | to the airlines or if the airline owns it and rents it to
               | him.
        
               | dillondoyle wrote:
               | Would reply to child but too nested. Maybe it's this one
               | for charter?
               | 
               | https://www.privatefly.com/private-jets/large-airliner-
               | hire/...
               | 
               | Looks pretty cool if I was wealthier and wanted a
               | destination wedding this would be the way!
        
               | wizzwizz4 wrote:
               | There is no "too nested". If it doesn't show a "reply"
               | button, click on the timestamp instead.
        
               | hellbannedguy wrote:
               | I like John Travolta.
               | 
               | I've wondered lately if he is working so much because of
               | his hobbies, or just loves any acting gig?
               | 
               | (I need a life?)
        
           | joezydeco wrote:
           | Comlux bought it from Aeromexico in their bankruptcy, but it
           | looks like Pineyro might be leasing it from Comlux.
        
         | iJohnDoe wrote:
         | Very powerful. Thanks for finding and sharing.
        
         | knowaveragejoe wrote:
         | What can Argentina even do about this? Seize or sink some ships
         | to make an example?
        
         | rasz wrote:
         | If you dont have navy then you dont have territorial waters,
         | its that simple.
        
           | water8 wrote:
           | Good point. The Navy is by far the most important branch of
           | any military.
        
             | unclewalter wrote:
             | Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein might disagree.
        
             | CamperBob2 wrote:
             | Dammit, and here I am, fresh out of popcorn.
        
         | dillondoyle wrote:
         | What is the benefit of fishing in such a tight formation? More
         | fish caught? maybe more sense of security as a flotilla?
        
         | geniium wrote:
         | This is insane!
        
       | scubakid wrote:
       | Exploiting protected fish stocks and ecosystems happens far too
       | often with minimal consequences... and the knock-on effects of
       | this trend are terrible for everyone. Would love to see someone
       | do a full breakdown on courses of action here that might actually
       | be effective.. along with pros/cons/costs and analysis of why
       | they haven't been pursued already.
        
         | dalbasal wrote:
         | Courses of action are plenty. These are foreign fleets
         | illegally fishing territorial waters, so there's no real reason
         | for authorities to object to enforcement.
         | 
         | In this case, the problem is enforcement, which locals on here
         | seem to think is related to coast guard resources and/or
         | corruption. I would hazard that its an issue of will and/or
         | competency, in this case.
         | 
         | Overharvesting in international waters and overharvesting
         | legally within territorial waters is a different issue. The
         | actual solution, IMO, is a blanket ban with certain exemptions.
         | Fishing is very political thought, and constantly
         | underestimated by politicians and MOPs who naively wade in.
         | Financially, fishing is not that big an industry. It does
         | represent a livelihood for a lot of people. It also has huge
         | cultural significance, literally an ancient way of life. For
         | everyone else, it has some cultural significance, culinary
         | significance... so a touches a lot of people. It's genuinely a
         | big ask. I support a ban, but underestimating effects on people
         | is a recipe for failure, and bad blood.
         | 
         | Commercial, terrestrial wild harvests at industrial scale
         | famously wiped out US bison herds very quickly. One notable
         | example of many. Inland fisheries, especially salmon, faired
         | similarly. Bans have been far more effective than controlled
         | harvests. Two big examples are Cod and whaling. Cod fishing is
         | one of the oldest modern regulatory history in fishing... but
         | Cod never recovered. Whaling OTOH, most species that were not
         | depleted entirely have recovered. The ban worked.
         | 
         | Oceanic fishing is similar to terrestrial harvests and inland
         | fisheries , just bigger and with the added difficulty of
         | requiring international coordination. We can't harvest wild
         | stock sustainably at a commercial scale. Perhaps it's possible
         | in theory, but theory has rarely proven out in practice.
        
       | stanislavb wrote:
       | Could China be stopped or it seems it's too late?
        
       | qwerty456127 wrote:
       | Why not create a specialized pirate fleet which would base in the
       | international waters, enter Argentina waters as long as Argentina
       | doesn't mind and prey on the "invisible" illegal fishing boats
       | nobody would protect?
        
         | prennert wrote:
         | 1. The top voted comment links to a video that shows 100s if
         | not 1000s of tightly navigating vessels. They will protect
         | themselves
         | 
         | 2. What are those pirates going to prey on? Fish fingers?
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | blackearl wrote:
       | Seems ripe for pirates, wonder why they aren't making a comeback.
        
       | fblp wrote:
       | This is a great example of a non-profit using data to make an
       | impact. Let's support them hn fam!
       | https://act.oceana.org/page/73742/donate/
        
         | switchstance wrote:
         | Agreed. Done!
        
         | wolverine876 wrote:
         | Who are they? What do they do? What will my money be used for?
         | Being a 'non-profit' doesn't at all make them good actors.
         | Someone's description of themselves isn't a reliable source.
        
         | antouank wrote:
         | Maybe worth it to watch "Seaspiracy" as well
         | https://www.netflix.com/no-en/title/81014008
        
           | gruez wrote:
           | It might be watching as entertainment, but it's not really
           | worth watching if you're looking for objective analysis. ie.
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26749401 (or the rest of
           | the thread)
        
             | knuthsat wrote:
             | The comment you link just describes the plot through the
             | eyes of someone who didn't like the film. There's no
             | refutation of anything that film states.
        
       | lisper wrote:
       | Huh??? These ships aren't "vanishing", they are simply turning
       | off their transponders. It's quite clear where these ships are
       | and why they are switching their transponders off: they are
       | fishing in Argentine territorial waters without permission.
        
         | dredmorbius wrote:
         | thatsthepoint.jpg
        
           | lisper wrote:
           | Strange way of making that point. Usually when people talk
           | about ships "vanishing" they're talking about something more
           | like the Bermuda Triangle or rogue waves or something like
           | that, i.e. ships actually, you know, _vanishing_ , not
           | turning off their tracking devices so they can fish
           | illegally.
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | Vanishing == "turning off the Maritime equivalent of IFF
       | transponder"
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | LatteLazy wrote:
       | This reminds me of Nelsons famous "I see no ships" quote.
       | Everyone in power knows what's happening, everyone in power
       | agrees not to prevent it, everyone in power pretends they
       | haven't.
        
       | pastullo wrote:
       | aaaand again China doing whatever it wants and nobody doing
       | anything about it. When will this stop? Personally i'm boycotting
       | their product and services as much as possible.
        
         | ianai wrote:
         | The reigning choice since Kissinger seems to be "appeasement".
         | His reasoning was their population size.
        
         | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
         | _> Personally i 'm boycotting their product and services as
         | much as possible._
         | 
         | Good luck with that.
         | 
         | Turn over pretty much any item in your house, and you'll see
         | _"Made in China."_
         | 
         | Every single one of our nations has its markets dominated by
         | corporations that have found the only way to compete, is to
         | manufacture in China.
         | 
         | Many nations are now incapable of manufacturing their own
         | goods.
         | 
         | Once you're a pickle, you'll never be a cucumber again.
        
           | giantg2 wrote:
           | All it takes is a little research. You can find a US
           | manufacturer for almost anything if you look hard enough.
           | Most people don't want to pay the higher prices that
           | sometimes come with many of the products.
           | 
           | https://www.madeinamerica.co/pages/thelist
        
             | SavantIdiot wrote:
             | Find me a single electronic device on the planet that isn't
             | made with some Chinese parts. AFAIK all passive electronics
             | components are made in China.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | There's no way the DOD would allow only China to make
               | components that their contracts require. I'm sure there
               | are domestic producers.
               | 
               | Here's a site from a quick search.
               | https://www.tedss.com/LearnMore/American-Made-Capacitors
               | 
               | Here is a site for US built computers with the option to
               | specify US only components.
               | https://usamadeproducts.biz/electronics-computers.html
        
               | SavantIdiot wrote:
               | You misunderstood my point:
               | 
               | Made in USA != all parts made in the USA. Kinda like how
               | "Made in the USA" cars/trucks are often 90% made overseas
               | then sent to the US for final assembly to earn that
               | sticker.
               | 
               | I'll ignore the fact that the very first link in your
               | computer URL is Apple, which does not have a 100% made in
               | the USA product.
               | 
               | The second computer company in your link is Digital
               | Storm. They use MSI boards which are made in Taiwan and
               | China.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | No, I didn't miss your point. The link I posted has
               | computer manufacturers that say they can use US based
               | components, including in-house engineered parts. I also
               | showed that components are made in the US and that the
               | DOD contracts will require that Chinese parts not be
               | used.
        
           | iso8859-1 wrote:
           | Taiwanese products are also marked as "Made in China". So
           | it's not as bad as you think.
        
             | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
             | Yes, but this still adds to the atrophy of local
             | manufacturing expertise.
             | 
             | This did not start with China. Japan did it after WWII
             | (remember "cheap Japanese"?). Korea did it after Japan.
             | 
             | Now, both Korea and Japan are becoming known for high-
             | quality, pricey stuff.
             | 
             | Many Korean and Japanese corporations manufacture in China,
             | Thailand, and Vietnam.
             | 
             | China is headed that way too, but it may take longer.
        
             | breckenedge wrote:
             | Huh, what market are you in? Just yesterday I bought a tool
             | that was "Made in Taiwan" over two "Made in China"
             | alternatives.
        
             | ridaj wrote:
             | There are items made in China by Taiwan-based companies,
             | which are marked as such, but stuff actually manufactured
             | in Taiwan is marked as made in Taiwan
        
             | steve_adams_86 wrote:
             | I've seen a lot of things marked as made in Taiwan. Look at
             | bike frames and you'll quickly notice one made there.
        
           | Finnucane wrote:
           | I still have things in my house marked 'made in East/West
           | Germany'. But I am old.
        
         | ArkanExplorer wrote:
         | When military vessels open fire on and sink Chinese Fishing
         | Boats located inside territorial waters.
        
           | sneak wrote:
           | It was Isaac Asimov who, in the Foundation series, once
           | famously said that "Violence is the last refuge of the
           | incompetent."
        
             | koheripbal wrote:
             | That's true except for the times it isn't.
        
             | Proven wrote:
             | it seems there's another level below that, an inability to
             | distinguish violence from defence.
        
             | phendrenad2 wrote:
             | Obviously you don't just resort to violence. First you
             | threaten violence and if THEY are incompetent they won't
             | heed the warning, forcing the violence
        
             | dnh44 wrote:
             | Would any person in any country argue that their leaders
             | aren't incompetent?
        
             | ArkanExplorer wrote:
             | The purpose of the military is to maintain the territorial
             | sovereignty of the nation, against illegal entry from
             | migrants/smugglers or chinese fishermen.
             | 
             | If the military cannot perform this task then why does
             | Argentina spend $3billion on them?
             | 
             | The obvious answer is that Argentina is a failed state,
             | incapable of defending itself.
        
               | sneak wrote:
               | Sovereignty is a slippery abstraction. What we're talking
               | about here is doing violence against someone on a boat
               | who has directly harmed no one, whose only crime is
               | crossing an invisible line and perhaps stealing some
               | food.
               | 
               | Now, I'm not going to get down in to the weeds about
               | fishing property rights, but it looks like you're trying
               | to climb up this abstraction layer ("territorial
               | sovereignty") to justify violence against the peaceful.
               | 
               | If indeed they are stealing from someone under the law, I
               | don't think violent action via a national military is in
               | any way whatsoever a proportionate response. You seem to
               | be advocating for collective guilt because there are so
               | many, and collective guilt or group punishment is a
               | violation of human rights.
        
             | wavefunction wrote:
             | The character who expressed it as their maxim also ended up
             | engaging in violence to solve the problems facing their
             | world.
        
         | bserge wrote:
         | And Spain, apparently. And a few others, too.
         | 
         | https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/oce...
         | 
         | [Insert monkey puppet meme.]
         | 
         | Not defending them, but it looks like it's a wider problem than
         | just "China bad".
        
         | akudha wrote:
         | Unless you're very rich or living like a monk, boycotting
         | Chinese made products is not an easy task. Go to any American
         | supermarket and look at the labels, I bet a majority of them
         | are made in China.
         | 
         | Voting with wallet only works when there are options. I bet the
         | devices that you and I used to write these very comments are
         | highly likely made in China too, at least partly
        
           | rizpanjwani wrote:
           | Maybe we can take baby steps. You just boycott what you can
           | and make your voice heard. I'm sure the market would fill the
           | need sooner or later. Best place to start would be the
           | Chinese brands like Huawei.
        
           | giantg2 wrote:
           | Walmart has made an effort to stock mostly American products.
           | Clothes and shoes are main exceptions at any store, although
           | options do exist.
        
           | nkozyra wrote:
           | > Go to any American supermarket and look at the labels, I
           | bet a majority of them are made in China.
           | 
           | A great deal of our overall consumer products are, but most
           | of our consumables come from the US or Central/South America.
        
         | nend wrote:
         | I mean you can say this same thing about several countries.
         | USA, Russia, China all come to mind. Turns out countries with
         | power often act similarly as people with power, unethically in
         | order to advance their own interests. It's not just a "someone
         | needs to stop china" problem, it's more systemic. Stopping
         | china from doing this one thing is just treating symptoms, not
         | the underlying cause.
        
         | newacct583 wrote:
         | Fishery regulation cheating is pervasive _everywhere_ , almost
         | none of these rules have working teeth. Every ocean species for
         | which there is a market anywhere is being catastrophically
         | overexploited, regardless of what regulations say.
         | 
         | That said, I guess... I'm actually OK with jingoist anti-China
         | hatred in this particular case if it helps drive attention to a
         | genuine ecological catastrophe? The woke hippies welcome you
         | aboard, mate.
        
           | hmmokidk wrote:
           | US ships trawl and overfish as well. The Anti-China sentiment
           | is uncalled for.
        
           | GordonS wrote:
           | I was going to make a similar point - this is a persistent
           | problem _anywhere_ there are profitable fish stocks, and
           | absolutely _not_ just by the Chinese - the French, Spanish,
           | whoever, there are plenty of people at it.
        
             | teachingassist wrote:
             | Nobody has yet mentioned the UK, but: reduced regulation on
             | fishing was a big motivator for Brexit, where the campaign
             | had its roots deep in coastal towns.
        
               | GordonS wrote:
               | Well, British fishermen thought we'd be "taking back
               | control of our waters", and wouldn't be in the situation
               | where they have smaller quotas that the large Spanish and
               | French vessels that fish British waters do.
               | 
               | Of course, it didn't work out like that.
        
               | newacct583 wrote:
               | Which is deeply self-defeating, because those jobs are
               | going away when the fish disappear anyway. The only
               | question is who gets to eat the last ones.
        
         | booleandilemma wrote:
         | Is it even possible to boycott China at this point?
        
           | seangp wrote:
           | Probably not, but governments need to start weaning
           | themselves from China's teat. It won't be easy and it will
           | take a while, but it can be done.
        
         | baron_harkonnen wrote:
         | The US has overthrown multiple democratic governments to get
         | what it wants. I personally prefer China's blatant disregard
         | for the rules over the United State's efforts to forcibly
         | rewrite the rules in their favor.
        
           | oblak wrote:
           | Looks like you are being downvoted for no good reason.
           | Comments like this always seem to go down after the sun rises
           | across the Atlantic
           | 
           | "I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he
           | stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an
           | angel and is nothing but a devil."
           | 
           | I remember this quote from an old Ice Cube btw
        
           | nyolfen wrote:
           | how does argentina fit into this equation
        
           | magicsmoke wrote:
           | Rules are a way for whichever party is more powerful at the
           | time of rule writing to lock in advantages in their favor.
           | Take a look at any US election cycle, each parties tries to
           | create laws that it knows will be difficult to overturn even
           | if they get voted out in 4 years.
           | 
           | Is it any wonder a rising power chafes at rules that it
           | didn't get same amount of influence over at the time of
           | writing because it was weaker? Our entire structure of
           | international law is based on decisions made in those first
           | few years after WW2. It's been 70+ years since then and the
           | world has changed dramatically. I'm quite concerned that if
           | the current international structure isn't flexible enough to
           | bend and accommodate the pressure those changes, its going to
           | break like an earthquake fault and we could very well have a
           | WW3 scenario on our hands.
        
           | mint2 wrote:
           | That's like people who preferred Donald trump. Indications
           | from other areas showed he was going to be worse, but he
           | hadn't already had an actual history in office so many former
           | supporters were unable to extrapolate.
           | 
           | Xinjiang, Tibet, and events in Hong Hong don't bode well.
           | Trends in the South China Sea show that China doesn't respect
           | its neighboring countries claims either. So the external
           | events that do exist are not promising that China will be
           | better.
           | 
           | And in internal politics and equality, we haven't yet forced
           | academics and professionals into labor camps but it may be
           | trending that way.
           | 
           | Edit: I'm by no means downplaying the terribleness the USA
           | did in South America, the Middle East or elsewhere nor our
           | own internal discriminations and worse, I'm pointing out that
           | given the limited information we have, it does not give any
           | confidence that China will be an improvement. My own feel
           | given my fairly limited understanding is that overall it will
           | be worse for the environment and justice globally and at the
           | very best essentially the same but with a new face.
        
           | beebeepka wrote:
           | You can tell it's an American website when stating the
           | obvious is routinely downvoted or flagged without
           | explanation.
        
       | pelasaco wrote:
       | It is not just an Argentinas problem:
       | 
       | Peru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMhQ5zmm-pI
       | 
       | North Korean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PZzxF4hwVI
       | 
       | West Africa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUClXFF2PKs
       | 
       | U.S. Navy Arrest and Sink 300 Chinese Fishing Ships Off South
       | America Coast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9vTjgIDUQo
        
         | Roboprog wrote:
         | "China Uncensored" on YouTube has covered this sort of behavior
         | towards countries neighboring the China Sea frequently.
         | 
         | China stripping unguarded Atlantic coasts was news to me,
         | though.
        
       | lettergram wrote:
       | My 2020 prediction that there will be no more wild caught fish in
       | markets by 2030 seems ever closer...
       | 
       | The truth is, Argentina knows what's happened but is likely
       | powerless to stop it. If they acted to curb the issue, China
       | would stop bribes to the Argentina leadership and likely impose
       | sanctions of some kinda.
        
         | paulcole wrote:
         | > My 2020 prediction that there will be no more wild caught
         | fish in markets by 2030 seems ever closer...
         | 
         | Are you talking worldwide freshwater and saltwater fish?
        
         | nixass wrote:
         | Well, napalm carpet bombing and the fleet from the video is
         | gone, and likely won't come back, ever
        
         | toyg wrote:
         | _> China would stop bribes to the Argentina leadership_
         | 
         | No need to inject unsubstantiable allegations in an otherwise
         | sensible comment.
         | 
         | The power imbalance between a small country with long-standing
         | financial issues and a history of inability in enforcing its
         | complex borders, and a rising global superpower, is quite
         | evident.
        
           | oefrha wrote:
           | https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-
           | international/oce...
           | 
           | > South Korean, Spanish, and Taiwanese vessels conducted 26
           | percent of estimated fishing activity in the study with
           | nearly 200 vessels. Almost "90 percent of the Spanish vessels
           | that fished along Argentina's national waters appeared to
           | turn off their public tracking devices at least once, and
           | Spanish vessels spent nearly twice as much time with AIS
           | devices off as they did visibly fishing," according to the
           | report.
           | 
           | If power imbalance is the main issue here, surely something
           | can be done about the other 1/3 at least?
        
           | ethbr0 wrote:
           | > _a history of inability in enforcing its complex borders,
           | and a rising global superpower, is quite evident_
           | 
           | Can't tell if this was a Falkland Islands / Great Britain
           | reference or not.
        
           | waheoo wrote:
           | What do you mean unsubstantiable?
           | 
           | https://theglobalamericans.org/2021/02/new-directions-in-
           | the...
        
             | toyg wrote:
             | In a quick read, I don't see anything in there that could
             | be qualified as "bribe to the leadership". The Chinese
             | finance a lot of countries to ingratiate themselves, but
             | outright bribes to this or that person is another thing. It
             | might well be happening, but stating it with certainty when
             | there is no proof just comes off as a conspiracy theory.
        
               | snthd wrote:
               | https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/6270-illegal-
               | fishing-b... (2013)
               | 
               | >Corruption fuelling illegal fishing
               | 
               | >[Argentine journalist Roberto Maturana] says that in
               | Argentina, these arrangements are facilitated by corrupt
               | officials at the government sub-department of fishing,
               | responsible for granting fishing licenses. 'Often
               | officials will issue an Argentine license to two
               | different Chinese boats. So whilst one is in port, the
               | other will be out fishing'.
               | 
               | Given Argentina's corruption problem
               | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Argentina),
               | and China's fishing agenda
               | (https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/30/china-beijing-
               | fishing-a... ), it would be a surprise if corruption was
               | not happening.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | jakobdabo wrote:
           | What do you mean a "small country"? Argentina is 8-th largest
           | country in the world.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependen.
           | ..
        
             | toyg wrote:
             | In a world of continent-sized superpowers, any country with
             | less than 100m people is objectively small; and Argentina
             | definitely does not compensate for that with high per-
             | capita GDP (they are not even in the top 50).
        
               | retrac wrote:
               | There's probably only three large countries in the world
               | by your definition then: the USA, China, and Japan.
               | (India, Brazil and Russia's economies are probably too
               | small to meet your standard, all being smaller than the
               | UK's or Germany's.)
        
             | eliseumds wrote:
             | Shanghai alone has a larger GDP than Argentina, and that's
             | pre-pandemic data.
             | 
             | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_prefecture-
             | l...
        
             | u8mybrownies wrote:
             | Probably referring more to GDP
        
         | BurningFrog wrote:
         | We farm instead of hunt & gather on land since a long time.
         | 
         | The same has to happen in the oceans.
        
           | kristopolous wrote:
           | Fishing is really barbaric. It's fairly bloodless since we
           | suffocate all the creatures but it's like going to Yosemite
           | and just cutting the throats open of the animals you find,
           | tossing then in a bag and taking them off to sell on the
           | market.
           | 
           | I mean what on earth year are we in again?
        
             | ptaipale wrote:
             | No, at least I don't suffocate fish that I catch. I stun
             | and kill.
        
               | kristopolous wrote:
               | Also awful. It's not about an individual fish, many
               | people don't understand this.
               | 
               | It's about disruption of an ecosystem that material
               | reality demonstrates we still very poorly understand.
               | 
               | There's exactly zero evidence that anyone other than very
               | specific tribes of indigenous peoples who sustained
               | thousands of years, that humans writ large know how to
               | maintain ecosystems.
               | 
               | All evidence points to our current practices having
               | massive deleterious consequences and that we are already
               | a few decades into a mass extinction event.
               | 
               | If that's not enough evidence to harbor every ship (or at
               | least 95%) until we figure out what the fuck we're doing,
               | there's no hope.
               | 
               | That's the truly repulsive aspects of barbarism, it's
               | about the combination of ignorance and indifference as to
               | the consequences of our actions
        
           | pibechorro wrote:
           | Ya, no. Nothing wrong with hunting straight from nature. The
           | key word is sustainable.
           | 
           | If you live on the ocean, you have every human right to fish
           | fo nourishment. The issue here is militarized mass scale
           | industrial fishing, illegally raping reassures to feed
           | foreign people, mostly landlocked people sushi rolls and fish
           | fillet.
           | 
           | What we need is a culture that eats local. Its a consumption
           | issue. Farmed fish are most of the time also destructive to
           | the environment, they are fed less than ideal and sustainable
           | feeds, are not as healthy to eat, and most importantly are
           | not healthy and happy fish, they are slaves in horrible life
           | cycles.
        
             | lupire wrote:
             | > Ya, no.
             | 
             | Please don't do this.
             | 
             | > are not healthy and happy fish
             | 
             | Citation needed that wild fish are "happy".
             | 
             | And it's dishonesty to assume unsustainable farming and
             | sustainable wild catch in your argument.
             | 
             | Do you have any evidence that sufficient wild catch exists
             | to feed the population?
        
             | BurningFrog wrote:
             | > _What we need is a culture that eats local_
             | 
             | This hostility to transporting goods you see occasionally
             | is hard for me to understand.
             | 
             | I mean, I know I disagree with it, but what's weird is I
             | don't even understand the underlying reasoning.
        
             | matheusmoreira wrote:
             | > Nothing wrong with hunting straight from nature.
             | 
             | Wild animals are likely to have parasites. Farmed animals
             | can be controlled for that.
        
               | Swenrekcah wrote:
               | Farms are often crowded and prime locations for
               | parasites. Fish farms are notorious:
               | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/supermarket-salmon-
               | riddle...
        
               | gjhh244 wrote:
               | Parasites are no problem as long as you cook the food
               | properly.
        
               | tharkun__ wrote:
               | Farmed animals have a tendency to be a mono culture that
               | is housed on way too little space which is a breeding
               | ground for problems that then need to be controlled by
               | heavy use of pharmaceuticals which is detrimental to
               | human survival.
               | 
               | Think anti biotic use in chickens for example. And the
               | resistances that come with it. And fish tanks that do
               | exist already have some of these issues already as well.
               | How expanding that even more is a good thing is nebolous
               | to me.
        
               | hungryforcodes wrote:
               | Also the animals may not like it.
        
             | pibechorro wrote:
             | *reasources
        
             | giantg2 wrote:
             | So what are the city people going to eat if it has to be
             | local?
             | 
             | My perspective is that there are simply too many people and
             | they are leading an increasingly modern (high consumption)
             | lifestyle.
        
               | rab-the-goat wrote:
               | If they have such a high population and low production
               | that they have to steal other peoples food sources,
               | they're an existential threat to everyone else. What they
               | will eat has been determined, and it's not likely to make
               | the transition to local. So other people's starvation and
               | the mass destruction of habitat will continue to be their
               | externalities.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | Much of the fish in the US is imported from China. So
               | it's not just what "they" are eating.
        
               | adventured wrote:
               | Do me a favor and post the latest figures on US domestic
               | fish vs imports, where the imports break out to on a
               | country-by-country basis, along with separating out US
               | domestic fish that are exported to and then imported from
               | China in a processing loop (used for cheaper processing,
               | not actually caught or farmed by China).
               | 
               | That way we can better analyze the context of what "much"
               | actually means.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | You can do that if you'd like. It's supposed to be 30% of
               | seafood is actual Chinese imports.
        
               | tharkun__ wrote:
               | I would tend to agree. Cities breed lots of problems.
               | Social, economic, environmental, every kind you can
               | imagine. And it creates very very small communities
               | outside those cities which comes with its own problems
               | too (think small town sheriff's tyranny type stuff - yes
               | there's racial profiling etc in big cities as well,
               | didn't say it was a unique problem). Bigger numbers do
               | have an advantage but there is definitely a number that
               | is too large.
               | 
               | I would advocate for lots of intermediate size cities but
               | that doesn't seem to be what anyone in power wants.
               | 
               | Also, are you advocating for Thanos like mercy here? ;)
        
               | TheGigaChad wrote:
               | I would advocate for you to hang yourself.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | Not just that the settlement size is not right, but that
               | the planet can only support so many people. Sure, they
               | estimate it can support up to 11 billion. But that
               | assumes increases in technology and commercial
               | agricultural as well as consumer changes (like little
               | meat). This also doesn't take into account it being
               | sustainable or not.
               | 
               | We need a shrinking population and less consumerism. We
               | are not currently sustainable (and unlikely to become so
               | anytime soon).
        
           | spockz wrote:
           | We already have ponds for growing non saltwater fish. Farming
           | cattle fish in the ocean would be interesting!
        
             | prawn wrote:
             | There are already many aquaculture pens in the ocean near
             | Port Lincoln, South Australia, often for tuna. You see them
             | from the air when flying over. Here's a photo of what they
             | look like:
             | 
             | https://www.cleanseas.com.au/custom/files/media/our-
             | farm-2.j...
        
               | mastax wrote:
               | The issue is that many of the desirable farmed fish like
               | tuna and salmon are carnivores. Farming them still
               | requires catching mass quantities of less-commercially-
               | useful fish along with the issues that has.
               | 
               | Edit: I should say part of the issue. There are other
               | ecological concerns with farmed fish.
        
               | throwtheacctawy wrote:
               | That and the flesh eating parasites eating the farmed
               | fish alive.
               | 
               | So the inputs are unsustainable. The output yields are
               | unreliable, and not able to meet demand. It isn't clear
               | how much better fish farms are for the environment.
        
             | rmah wrote:
             | Nations in the far east already have have vast fish farms
             | in the ocean (along the coasts). They are huge and produce
             | huge quantities of fish -- a substantial percentage of fish
             | consumed. But there are species that people like to eat
             | that cannot be farmed economically or at all. So they are
             | caught in the wild.
        
               | throwtheacctawy wrote:
               | Worth noting, fish farms have flaws that have not been
               | addressed yet. E.g. - there is a parasite that attacks
               | the flesh of farm raised fish. The fish literally get
               | slowly eaten alive.
               | 
               | Scientists still trying to find a good solution that
               | scales. Currently, the yields in commercial fish farms
               | won't meet consumption demand.
               | 
               | IMO, it is probably better to eat meat than fish. We at
               | least have a better understanding of how to more
               | sustainably raise cattle. I'm probably not entirely
               | accurate here, but cattle do not have the same level of
               | ecological importance as fish do.
        
             | ta988 wrote:
             | They exist already.
             | https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/fishonafarm/
        
           | booleandilemma wrote:
           | Interesting perspective, I hadn't thought of it that way
           | before.
        
         | soheil wrote:
         | > China would stop bribes
         | 
         | What are these bribes you talk of? Can you provide sources?
        
         | mastax wrote:
         | On average, fish sticks are increasing in much of the world:
         | 
         | https://www.pnas.org/content/117/4/2218
         | 
         | https://sustainablefisheries-uw.org/science-of-seaspiracy/
         | 
         | > Among the assessed stocks in the database, the average
         | fishing pressure increased and the biomass declined on average
         | until 1995, when fishing pressure began to decrease. By 2005,
         | average biomass had started to increase (Fig. 1B). Averaged
         | across all stocks in the database, biomass in 2016 was higher
         | than BMSY, and fishing pressure was lower than UMSY. However,
         | improvement is still needed for 24% of stocks, accounting for
         | 19% of potential catch, which still have low biomass and high
         | fishing pressure compared with MSY-based targets
         | 
         | > Since the mid-1990s, catch has generally declined in
         | proportion to decreases in fishing pressure and was, in 2016,
         | at 54% of where it was in 1989 for assessed stocks (Fig. 1B).
         | This pattern is also observed at the regional level, where the
         | correlation between exploitation rate and catch is generally
         | >0.8 (Fig. 2). Global catch as reported by the FAO also
         | declined during that period, but less so than for the assessed
         | stocks reported here, likely because fishing effort in the
         | parts of the world without assessment has not declined (18).
         | 
         | > Regions that have average biomass near or above BMSY are
         | Australia, Atlantic Ocean tunas, Canada West Coast, European
         | Union non-Mediterranean, Indian Ocean tunas,
         | Norway/Iceland/Faroes, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean tunas,
         | Alaska, the US Southeast and Gulf, and the US West Coast.
         | Although these regions have not avoided the overfishing of all
         | stocks, conservative management has kept most stocks at high
         | biomass. Many areas where biomass was below BMSY in 2000 have
         | seen reductions in fishing pressure and stock increases,
         | including the Atlantic Ocean tunas; the East, Southeast, and
         | Gulf coasts of the United States; the Canada East Coast; and
         | the Northwest Pacific Ocean (Japan and Russia). Tuna stocks in
         | the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which were well above BMSY in
         | 1970, were near BMSY in 2016.
         | 
         | > Stocks in the Mediterranean-Black Sea have low biomass and
         | continue to decline, whereas stocks in South America have
         | declined considerably in the last 20 y and were below target
         | levels in 2016. Fishing pressure in South America has been
         | dropping since the early 2000s. Only 4 of 36 stocks in NW
         | Africa have MSY-based reference points for biomass estimated,
         | all of which are large-volume, small-pelagic fisheries and are
         | therefore unrepresentative of the many demersal fisheries in
         | the region. The stock abundance for those small-pelagic stocks
         | is above MSY targets, but exploitation rates were high (2.5
         | times UMSY) for the 6 NW African stocks for which exploitation
         | rate reference points exist. Regional assessments (19)
         | estimated that most demersal stocks were overexploited by 2008
         | and recommended reductions in fishing pressure.
         | 
         | It is of course difficult to create and enforce a regulatory
         | regime to prevent overfishing, but there tends to be buy-in
         | among fisherman once their fisheries collapse.
        
         | ashtonkem wrote:
         | The fascinating question is what happens if China tries to back
         | this up with force. The US would probably feel the need to
         | intervene, but I'm sure most of South America would be more
         | than a bit wary having American war ships in the area given
         | what we've done down there. On the other hand, better than
         | Chinese warships perhaps?
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | pvaldes wrote:
           | > what happens if China tries to back this up with force.
           | 
           | Nobody in Argentina would buy Chinese products again,
           | probably.
           | 
           | I predict that if they search a little, would find exactly
           | the same pattern in Ethiopian waters.
        
             | ashtonkem wrote:
             | > Nobody in Argentina would buy Chinese products again,
             | probably.
             | 
             | Sure, but would that really affect Chinese decision making?
             | I imagine that a partial US boycott would have a much
             | larger impact than a full boycott in Argentina. Their GDP
             | is 32nd in the world according to Wikipedia.
        
           | hatchnyc wrote:
           | Argentina is a signatory of the Rio Treaty, as such any
           | attack against Argentina would we considered an attack
           | against the United States and most of the rest of South
           | America.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-
           | American_Treaty_of_Recip...
        
             | galangalalgol wrote:
             | So mostly safe from violent retaliation. How important is
             | their trade with China? If they impound Chinese fishing
             | vessels (assuming they have a coast guard capaple of
             | keeping up with this many intruders?) a loss of trade mught
             | occur.
        
             | toyg wrote:
             | That treaty is not worth much of anything these days, too
             | much history has happened since then.
             | 
             | It's true that the US consider South America "their own
             | backyard", but there is a web of complex relationships
             | which makes it unlikely they would blindly help this or
             | that country retaliate against actions from superpowers -
             | short of somebody establishing permanent strategic bases
             | that are direct threats to the US mainland.
        
               | Tams80 wrote:
               | I doubt the US would turn down an opportunity to legally
               | and likely popularly trim down the PLAN.
        
               | hatchnyc wrote:
               | I'm pretty sure if China went to war with Argentina it
               | would find new teeth.
        
           | 29athrowaway wrote:
           | Ever heard of RIMPAC?
           | 
           | https://youtu.be/ygLwuhQsybw
           | 
           | It's a yearly naval exercise conducted by many countries in
           | the Pacific. In the event of a naval war with China, they
           | would have to fight not only the US but Australia, Canada,
           | Japan, Philippines, and countless other countries.
           | 
           | It would not go well for them, I assure you.
        
             | ashtonkem wrote:
             | I was never questioning who would win a shooting war, I was
             | questioning how the Argentinians would feel about it.
             | 
             | But if China did decide to project power, the question is
             | not "would the US and its allies win a shooting war", the
             | question is "will the US push back at all?"
        
               | 29athrowaway wrote:
               | Does this answer the question?
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-
               | American_Treaty_of_Recip...
        
           | stefanfisk wrote:
           | Does China even posses the ability to project power that far
           | in any major sense?
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | ForHackernews wrote:
             | Not really, no. China does not (yet) have a blue water
             | navy. They have one, non-nuclear, carrier:
             | https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/with-its-new-aircraft-
             | carrie...
        
           | abeppu wrote:
           | Isn't it pretty unlikely for them to try to use force to back
           | up fishing boats secretly popping into Argentina's waters?
           | That would be making a big noise to continue doing something
           | that the fishing fleet was trying to do quietly, basically
           | calling attention to their shady behavior. And wouldn't using
           | force there be close to an invasion over one source of
           | cheaper fish? That would be a really aggressive escalation,
           | might alienate many countries, etc.
           | 
           | Surely China has bigger fish to fry ( _rimshot_ ) with its
           | foreign relations.
        
             | ashtonkem wrote:
             | > Isn't it pretty unlikely for them to try to use force to
             | back up fishing boats secretly popping into Argentina's
             | waters?
             | 
             | Yeah, probably. That's why I said _if_. It 's an
             | interesting scenario to think through, even if it's
             | unlikely.
        
         | baron_harkonnen wrote:
         | I'm genuinely curious when all of this will catch up to us. I
         | spend a relatively large amount of my spare time keeping up
         | with myriad of ways we are destroying our environment, the fact
         | that our ecosystem is in deep danger is without question.
         | 
         | At the same time, while I am anecdotally aware we are
         | experiencing a range of shortages right now, it never seems to
         | quite show up in our economic data.
         | 
         | Take for example the FRED data on global fish prices [0]. When
         | you look at that chart you see nothing particularly
         | interesting. You can pore over all of the commodities charts
         | and if that was all the data you had you would soon come to the
         | conclusion that nothing obvious is wrong with our environment
         | (at least from an economic standpoint).
         | 
         | To be absolutely clear, I'm not questioning that something is
         | wrong, I think we're in major trouble. But I am still genuinely
         | surprised that this peril doesn't present itself in any
         | economic data I can find. Any insights into when we will feel
         | this our how/when this environmental destruction will become
         | visible in our economic data would be appreciated.
         | 
         | [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PSALMUSDQ
        
           | mason55 wrote:
           | I'd guess given technology advances you'd expect prices to go
           | down, so the fact that they stay flat is actually indicating
           | that fish are becoming harder to find. Similar to how if the
           | price of something stays the same then it's becoming cheaper
           | because of inflation.
           | 
           | Also, fish are not a long term investment. The price only
           | depends on how hard they are to find combined with demand to
           | eat them sometime soon. If you could buy a fish now with the
           | expectation of selling it later when stocks dry up then I
           | think you'd see a lot more upward pressure.
        
             | HappyDreamer wrote:
             | Another thing cold be if costs for transportation and
             | preparing the fish, storing it etc, grocery store salaries,
             | as of now outweighs the cost of fishing it up from the
             | ocean? (But if so, maybe not much longer.) (I don't know,
             | just wondering.)
        
           | justnotworthit wrote:
           | It reminds me of the national debt/fiscal gap discussion.
           | Everyone will agree you can't owe a million times GDP, but no
           | one can describe the "limit". Every year and decade you have
           | people crying out that it's unsustainable and will result in
           | collapse, and you have people saying "nah, more". You have
           | examples of countries imploding, and you have the USA with
           | doubles down every X years.
           | 
           | Surely you can't parlay indefinitely, but there hasn't been
           | an implosion yet... until there is... but then everyone who
           | enjoyed the political and financial benefits of parlaying is
           | long dead, their inheritors heavily insulated... or there
           | isn't a financial implosion... or there's some other disaster
           | rendering this disaster moot... or something else (free
           | energy? Second Coming?) appears and fixes it, allowing the
           | reckless to get away with it... if we ever agree on who the
           | reckless were...
           | 
           | We could just follow Taleb's warnings (the precautionary
           | principle, antifragility, black swan events), but we can't
           | even agree on basic reality, and the people who are greatly
           | benefiting off their version of reality will never budge, and
           | the people who might suffer aren't yet born (probably).
        
           | lettergram wrote:
           | > To be absolutely clear, I'm not questioning that something
           | is wrong, I think we're in major trouble. But I am still
           | genuinely surprised that this peril doesn't present itself in
           | any economic data I can find. Any insights into when we will
           | feel this our how/when this environmental destruction will
           | become visible in our economic data would be appreciated.
           | 
           | Simply put, The environmental destruction isn't what you
           | think. For instance, Based on my experience climate modeling
           | and working with environmental papers - I don't believe
           | carbon emissions has a meaningful impact on global warming.
           | 
           | Further, and in way of example: the warming should lead to
           | increased food production (they often say as much in their
           | papers). What will happen is greater soil erosion, so we have
           | to protect against that (or we will long-term) have crop
           | problems.
           | 
           | The general point, is the system is more complex than we
           | realize. There are no one-off answers because the system will
           | always be adjusting to try to keep an equilibrium AND so will
           | humans. Farm Fishing is on the rise, protection zones are
           | being setup, global fishing rules have been ignored, but
           | local ones have not, etc etc
        
             | eloff wrote:
             | Funny that's contrary to the experience of > 95% of climate
             | scientists. I would trust that over an unsupported
             | reference to your experience, whatever that is.
        
             | mixologic wrote:
             | "Based on my experience climate modeling and working with
             | environmental papers" And what experience is that, exactly?
        
               | lettergram wrote:
               | I worked with several academics and corporations as a
               | contractor building their simulations. I've also read a
               | lot of papers as well, etc.
               | 
               | Like most simulations, they pretty much only can match
               | reality so closely. for instance, we don't have many long
               | term measurements, so we make (educated-ish) guesses.
               | Academics also repeatedly run their models, tweaking
               | parameters to get the results they want. Frankly, I don't
               | trust any research using simulations, after being paid to
               | work on environmental, biological systems, simulations
               | for drones and machines (trucks, construction, etc).
               | (Drones and other machines at least had a way to quickly
               | test).
        
           | lupire wrote:
           | Animal species almost always grow to consume more unless they
           | are destroyed by predators or exhaust their environment.
        
         | elliekelly wrote:
         | I'm fairly certain I've commented about this on HN before but
         | when I went to Antarctica (via ship from Argentina) in 2018 we
         | saw tons of these vessels because the ships fishing for squid
         | use huge bright lights to attract them at night. They looked
         | like UFOs on the horizon. It was a really strange sight.
         | 
         | It was definitely well-known amongst the scientists on the ship
         | that the operations were illegal. I know they made an effort to
         | report as many as they could but my impression was that
         | officials were overwhelmed by complaints and the illegal ships
         | would work together to avoid detection/quickly move to
         | international water so, since it was a losing battle, the
         | government didn't put forth too much effort.
         | 
         | Whether that's the _real_ reason nothing is done or just the
         | good reason used to justify their inaction is anyone's guess. I
         | will say there were a shocking number of ships that I could see
         | and I wouldn't be surprised if they outnumbered the Argentinian
         | navy.
        
           | galangalalgol wrote:
           | It seems they outnumber the Argentinian fishing fleet 4 to 1,
           | just counting the Chinese vessels which make up only 66% of
           | the total intruders. So probably they outnumber the navy by
           | quite a bit more. Impounding all these vessels would probably
           | not make economic sense. They cant utilize that many vehicles
           | and the people that might buy them would be the people they
           | took them from. They would have to escort each one back to
           | harbor and what do they do with the sailors? Feed and house
           | them for free? Sinking these vessels with all hands with no
           | warning would be the most effective way to handle it, no time
           | wasted escorting and the impact psychologically would be
           | outsized to the vessels sunk. Of course, that would gain them
           | a great deal of negative publicity.
        
             | yumraj wrote:
             | > Of course, that would gain them a great deal of negative
             | publicity.
             | 
             | Negative publicity where? I'm sure within Argentina this
             | would be very popular and if China protests it'll have to
             | own up that these illegal boats are coming from there,
             | which it may not want to do.
        
               | galangalalgol wrote:
               | That is a good point. The EU and the US likely would
               | condemn it on humanitarian grounds, but Argentina may not
               | have enough trade with them to care.
        
             | Tams80 wrote:
             | Sinking a few and then maintaining that threat is likely
             | the only way (as in, if they come back, sink a few more).
             | 
             | Obviously the crews should be taken off first, then
             | returned to land and then deported as soon as possible.
             | There's not much point in punishing them any further.
        
               | galangalalgol wrote:
               | If you are only doing a few, might as well take the boats
               | and use them. There are so many I was thinking you'd need
               | to sink a couple hundred. In which case saving the
               | fishermen is prohibitively expensive.
        
             | nonesuchluck wrote:
             | Not without warning, no. You wouldn't have to learn much
             | Chinese to announce "we're scuttling this ship in 2
             | minutes. If you wish to live, you may board this freely
             | provided inflatable."
             | 
             | Their other boats will take them home. Probably have to
             | toss over some of their illegal catch to make room, though.
        
         | HappyDreamer wrote:
         | I wonder, isn't it 1) obvious for the CCP what this amount of
         | overfishing will do?
         | 
         | And, 2)
         | 
         | > These distant-water fleets mainly fish for shortfin squid,
         | which are vital to Argentina's economy
         | 
         | 1 and 2 combined make me wonder if destroying the ocean
         | ecosystem, and damaging Argentina's economy could be a goal in
         | itself, somehow.
         | 
         | Maybe to (now I'm guessing), in the future, get to lend out
         | money to the government in Argentina, if they're in a bad
         | economic situation -- and make the country depend on the CCP or
         | something like that?
         | 
         | I'm just guessing and wondering. However it'd be weird to me if
         | the CCP hadn't thought about what'll happen, because of the
         | overfishing, and they said that, yes this is good for us; it's
         | something we want (the party, probably not the people).
        
           | Quarrelsome wrote:
           | It might be an error to attribute this to centralised
           | planning. While that is eminently possible (and much easier
           | for the CCP than other governments) this also could just be
           | someone min/maxing their little slice of the pie or anything
           | in between.
           | 
           | Agents of the imperial European powers used to act in the
           | "interests of the empire" abroad without significant
           | oversight ~200 years ago so this situation could be similar
           | with the Chinese fleet being paid with incentives that
           | encourage bending of the rules.
        
           | fencepost wrote:
           | _isn 't it 1) obvious for the CCP what this amount of
           | overfishing will do?_
           | 
           | It's not in their territory, they likely don't give a rat's
           | ass. Ecosystem damage in the western hemisphere might
           | actually be a good aspect for some of those who might crack
           | down on this.
           | 
           | I suspect we're all well aware that vessels and crews of any
           | nation pulling this in China's territorial waters would not
           | be treated kindly.
        
           | istorical wrote:
           | I read a lot of Chinese fantasy fiction (xianxia and wuxia)
           | online and its extremely common for the heroes of the stories
           | to use potions or herbs or magical ingredients to increase
           | their powers and abilities. Something unique about them
           | though is it seems super widespread in these stories for the
           | main character, neutral factions, and enemies / evil factions
           | alike to exhaust discovered resources to extinction, with the
           | main ethical / moral crisis being whether to distribute them
           | according to power or according to fairness. Fights over how
           | big one's share of the pie is are common, and 'evil'
           | characters are often those that express greed by demanding an
           | unfair share. But the question of whether it's a good idea or
           | a moral choice to harvest an entire field of 1000 year old
           | ginseng or stealing all of some rare previously thought to be
           | extinct Phoenix's eggs vs tending to the field and harvesting
           | only a small crop or only taking the resources of older birds
           | rarely comes up.
           | 
           | There are plenty of other cultural differences in these
           | stories but overall I'm always left wondering whether some of
           | these reflect broader cultural attitudes or if this is like
           | if someone tried to get a deep understanding of western
           | culture by reading Spiderman comics and that's it.
        
             | Wameaw wrote:
             | I'd think the culture of games and MMORPG had more
             | influence.
             | 
             | I've seen multiple spins on the scenario you've described,
             | in which some scenarios the exhaustive approach is
             | justified (the half-D world is on the verge of collapse, or
             | about to fall to a corrupting force which will decay the
             | resources, etc.);
             | 
             | is reasoned (if the protag leave the sustainable portion,
             | their opponent or enemy will plunder the rest, basically
             | 0-sum game);
             | 
             | is sustained (instead of harvesting everything, they
             | transfer the resource to their own half-D, or if it's non-
             | competitive, they do leave sustainable parts).
             | 
             | Then other genres of the wuxia and xianxia type where the
             | protag is the leader of a faction, and have the faction
             | resources (garden, mines, etc.).
             | 
             | I think you are thinking too deep into this. Reading a
             | popular novel doesn't mean the readers agree with every
             | action or idea the protag or the author take/presents,
             | popular novel are more like fast food, maybe this fry is a
             | bit too salty, maybe that fry is not salty enough, maybe
             | the cola is lacking ice, etc.
        
               | istorical wrote:
               | Yeah it's true they don't always fully exhaust resources,
               | but I wonder if the fact that such a large percentage of
               | these worlds (comparatively to western fantasy worlds)
               | are seen as 'well this is all gonna be gone soon anyway
               | whether through natural effects or the actions of another
               | bad actor so we may as well just abuse these resources
               | anyway' doesn't reveal a slight bias compared to western
               | attitudes.
               | 
               | One could perhaps look at the behaviors of Chinese
               | tourists at buffets as another example:
               | https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/976211.shtml
               | 
               | But it's just a curiosity since as you say, it's not a
               | representative sample and it's just a genre of fiction,
               | not some real psychological / sociological study.
               | 
               | I've also heard the explanation that this particular
               | behavior could be a reaction to recent history - in
               | particular the famines that China went through in the
               | 20th century. People still have through direct experience
               | or through their recent parents of grandparents that
               | experience of literally starving.
               | 
               | half-d? = half dimension / pocket dimension? don't know
               | what half-d is.
        
               | pimlottc wrote:
               | Sorry, what does "half-D" mean?
        
             | lupire wrote:
             | Is Game of Thrones an accurate model of USA culture?
        
               | justinclift wrote:
               | Maybe Scottish history (give or take a few dragons)? ;)
        
               | supp wrote:
               | Yes, actually it is in a lot of ways.
        
               | mlindner wrote:
               | Game of Thrones is set in Europe and is heavily inspired
               | by real european history (Hadrian's wall, the war of the
               | roses, etc).
        
               | ptaipale wrote:
               | Game of Thrones is set on fictional continents (though
               | yes, inspired by some actual European history).
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_A_Song_of_Ice_and_
               | Fir...
        
               | vmladenov wrote:
               | The White Walkers were a direct criticism of the US
               | public and government's inaction on global warming.
        
               | ericmay wrote:
               | No it's not. And it would be an unfair and silly
               | comparison anyway.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | Gustomaximus wrote:
         | Some areas are getting destroyed but other countries are very
         | good at managing their fisheries, England, Norway, Australia,
         | Canada and more will be producing wild fish ongoing I would
         | expect.
         | 
         | There definitely seems the need for some international waters
         | rules to be agreed on, but given today's politics it seems
         | unlikely the major powers would approach that with goodwill.
        
           | Tams80 wrote:
           | The thing with all those areas is that those countries have
           | the resources to police their waters and would absolutely
           | seize vessels that were in breach of their or international
           | laws.
           | 
           | And if an illegal fishing armada turned up would very likely
           | sink a few vessels to send a message.
        
             | rorykoehler wrote:
             | Argentina should lease their waters to a country with the
             | means to defend them.
        
       | adventured wrote:
       | It's long past time for the US to put the Monroe Doctrine to some
       | actual good use and put an end to the illegal Chinese fishing -
       | plundering, theft - going on in Latin American waters. We can
       | trivially put a stop to it, and quick. It'd be simultaneously in
       | our own self-interest to stand up to China on this matter, and be
       | a positive favor to Latin America.
        
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