This company, one of the largest in China, already attempted a similar project in the region in 2020. The current agreement includes port improvements and the construction of shipyards and fishing plants, which has raised concerns about the company's history of illegal fishing, reports Nelson Saldivia in Parte de Pesca.

 

 

 

The Environmental Policy Circle issued a report detailing the background of Hongdong Fisheries, which operates a fleet of more than 161 vessels, some registered under flags of convenience. The company has a presence in Mauritania and Guyana, and its CEO, Lan Ping Yong, has been linked to China's National People's Congress.

 

The report highlights incidents of illegal fishing, such as the 2017 incident in Indonesia, where a Hongdong vessel was captured after 19 illegal incursions. Another case occurred in South Africa in 2016, where two of the company's vessels were intercepted for operating furtively with deactivated identification systems. These vessels have also operated in the South Atlantic, near Argentina, deactivating their AIS systems to hide their location and evade detection.

 

 

Between 2017 and 2019, incursions by these vessels into Argentina's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were documented, violating national jurisdiction. In a 2019 incident, a Hongdong vessel entered up to one kilometer into the EEZ off Comodoro Rivadavia.

 

The report warns of the risks of allowing this fleet access to provincial ports, given that the operations of the Chinese fishing fleet are subsidized by its government, which encourages IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing. In addition, these activities affect the marine ecosystem, damage local economies, violate labor rights and pose a risk to navigation.

 

The Environmental Policy Circle concludes that allowing port services to fleets with a history of illegal fishing will have negative consequences in Argentine fishing provinces.