“‘Argenchinos’: Argentina allows vessels controlled by Chinese companies to fish without observers and to violate the law”, 16 February 2026

…In early February, the government of Javier Milei tightened controls on the high seas to prevent foreign vessels from fishing illegally in national waters. However, every squid season, dozens of vessels set sail from Argentine ports without the observer on board that the law requires to monitor fishing operations. This is demonstrated by three reports from the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP) obtained by Mongabay Latam.

Although the law clearly establishes that the Sub-secretariat for Fisheries and Aquaculture is the body responsible for supervising and enforcing the presence of observers and inspectors on board vessels, this investigation shows that officials from that agency are not enforcing the law.

The non-compliance takes on new dimensions when it is considered that these vessels are operated by companies that, in turn, belong to Chinese corporations with records of illegal fishing and alleged human rights violations…

Over the past decade, the entry of foreign vessels into the country intensified when various Chinese companies, including state-owned firms, began acquiring Argentine fishing companies, most of them public limited companies…

What explains this situation? According to the same document, there is “a low willingness on the part of companies and/or shipowners to take an observer on board”, as well as insufficient oversight by the competent authorities…

Shanghai Jinyou Deep Sea Fisheries Co. Ltd is one of the largest Chinese state-owned companies belonging to Shanghai Fishery Group—a mega-group dedicated to deep-sea fishing in domestic and international waters—which in turn forms part of Bright Food Group, one of the largest food conglomerates in that country.

The Chinese state-owned company acquired the Argentine fishing firm Altamare SA in 2014, according to the company’s commercial report. In addition, according to specialised fishing media such as Seafood Media Group, it also reportedly purchased the Argentine companies Argamar SA, Chiarpesca SA and Cheng I SA.

Confirming who stands behind public limited companies can be slow and cumbersome, as these firms are not obliged to disclose their shareholders…

Another major Chinese company that, according to specialised fisheries magazines and digital media, acquired the Argentine fishing firms Patagonia Fishing SA and Pesquera Latina SA in 2019 is Qingdao Hoayang Fisheries, which belongs to the Shandong Bodelong Co. Ltd group.

Rongcheng Marine Fishery has also been accused of illegally discarding fish at sea and of fishing in coastal exclusion zones in the waters of Ghana and in the Indian Ocean.

Zhejiang Ocean Family has been linked to human rights violations around the world…

None of this company’s vessels carried observers on board during either the 2024 or 2025 seasons, according to the latest INIDEP reports. Vessels operated by the other companies allegedly linked to Zhejiang Ocean Family also showed no observers on board in the reports mentioned.

Mongabay Latam contacted each of the Argentine and Chinese companies mentioned in this investigation by email but did not receive a single response. The firms Argamar, Moderno, Pesquera Latina and Patagonia Fishing do not list a valid email either on their respective official websites or in the official directory of the business chamber that represents them. To obtain their version of events, this outlet sent questions through the Argentine Chamber of Squid Vessel Owners, but by the time of publication there had still been no reply.