“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.”
More than 400 Chinese boats did 69 percent of the fishing on the edge of Argentina’s waters. Argentina’s own fleet managed less than 1 percent. The trackers went dark more than 6,000 times. A fishing boat doesn’t switch off its transponder to fish legally.