Despite China's announcements about possible reprisals against vessels and captains that violated existing regulations, what do they actually do?

Chinese squid 'jigging' vessels operate without satellite signals and take refuge in Chile

PERU
Sunday, February 09, 2025, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

With recent government measures, Peru demonstrates its leadership in fisheries surveillance and sets an example for other countries in the region.

Between May 2023 and September 2024, various administrations of the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) decided not to apply the Peruvian regulations that require foreign squid vessels to use satellite monitoring devices of the aforementioned government authority.

Chinese vessels waiting to enter a Peruvian port (2004).. Photo: Calamasur

This generated nearly 400 irregular entries of Chinese vessels into Peru, which produced a serious social crisis among artisanal fishermen, who felt that their authorities were facilitating the opacity of foreign vessels.

In response to this crisis, at the end of September 2024, PRODUCE reestablished the mandatory use of the satellite tracking device as a measure to protect the Peruvian sea. 

Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre, President of the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Giant Squid of the South Pacific (CALAMASUR), stated that this measure was implemented to discourage illegal fishing behavior that foreign squid vessels could have in moments prior to their entry into Peruvian ports to make crew changes or perform maintenance work.

This measure was formalized through the approval of Supreme Decree No. 014-2024PRODUCE.

In this regard, he revealed that, in the following months, not a single Chinese vessel, of the approximately 600 operating off Peru, has installed the satellite tracking device required by law.

“The Chinese fleet shows that it does not accept transparency in its operations,” said Miranda Eyzaguirre.

Click on the image to enlarge it

AIS Signal turned off

The case of the vessel “Lu Rong Yuan Yu 698” has shown two diametrically opposed behaviors, before and after the restoration of the protection of the Peruvian sea.

The head of CALAMASUR reported that its first entry into Peru was recorded between September 8 and 12, 2024 and it did so not only without using Peruvian satellite tracking but also kept its own country's positioning equipment turned off throughout its journey in Peruvian waters.

“According to the PRODUCE inspection report, the ship reported defects with its monitoring equipment, but was still allowed to continue transiting Peruvian territory without transmitting its position,” he said.

Photograph of Lu Rong Yuan Yu 608 during its stay in Peru in September 2024 (Source: PRODUCE)

He added that it only recovered the satellite positioning signal on September 28, when it was already in international waters again.

“It is to be hoped that the Peruvian fishing and naval authorities will sanction this ship as they would any national vessel,” he said. Miranda Eyzaguirre indicated that these events like this demonstrate the vulnerability to which the Grau Sea has been subjected.

No more Chinese ships

The president of CALAMASUR said that fortunately, since the end of September 2024, these behaviors, such as those of the “Lu Rong Yuan Yu 698” vessel, are no longer possible.

Any Chinese ship that wishes to enter Peru must install the satellite tracking device once it is in Peruvian waters.

This implies complying with all the obligations that a Peruvian shipowner has, including facing severe sanctions for any manipulation or interruption of the satellite signal transmission to the PRODUCE control center, known as SISESAT. In January 2025, the aforementioned Chinese vessel needed to enter port again; however, to evade submission to Peruvian satellite controls, it chose to follow a different pattern of conduct.

The path taken by the Chinese vessel Lu Rong Yuan Yu 608 to reach Iquique (source: Vessel Finder)

Between January 22 and 23, 2025, it left its fishing zone located in international waters at latitudes that coincide with the northern coast of Peru, to head towards Iquique, traveling more than 2,200 kilometers in a total of 15 days.

“In Chile, foreign vessels are not subject to the rigorous satellite control that is imposed in Peru,” he said.

He said that even though the journey of this ship seems irrational from an economic point of view, since the vessels would be investing almost 250 thousand dollars in fuel, crew costs and other operating expenses, as well as losing more than two weeks of work time, they continue to choose this route even though the trip to Peru is much shorter and the cost of the satellite service does not exceed 200 dollars per month.

Satellite images of Lu Rong Yuan Yu 608 and Lu Rong Yuan Yu 609 in the port of Iquique taken on 02/07/2025 (Source: Vessel Finder)

He added that so far there are eight Chinese vessels that have left their usual entry points to Peruvian ports in search of greater camaraderie in Chile. The president of the Committee for the Sustainable Management of the South Pacific Giant Squid (CALAMASUR), commented at first glance, the cost-benefit analysis of sailing so far to receive a service that Peru can offer in less time and distance does not add up.

"This suggests the existence of a hidden or sunk cost, which would encourage investing huge amounts of money in exchange for avoiding satellite monitoring of Peru, which seeks to comply with its international commitments in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing," he said.

Miranda Eyzaguirre also emphasized that cases such as that of the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 608 demonstrate the importance of Peru updating its regulations to ensure that ships that do not wish to contribute to fisheries transparency do not enter the country.

“Although these vessels continue to not install Peruvian satellite equipment, it is important to recognize that their refusal to do so ultimately prevents their presence in Peruvian ports. Vessels that do not wish to be monitored must seek ports in other, more permissive countries. In this way, Peru demonstrates its leadership in fisheries surveillance and sets an example for other countries in the region,” he concluded.

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