In a September report, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) said human rights abuses, marine wildlife abuse, and lax regulations that enable overfishing are threatening the future of the Southwest Atlantic Argentine squid fishery.
"Without urgent action, we are heading for disaster," EJF CEO and Founder Steve Trent said of the situation.
The report particularly called out China's squid-jigging fleet as being guilty of contributing to these issues. Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre, the president of Committee for the Sustainable Management of the Southern Pacific Jumbo Flying Squid (CALAMASUR), said similar issues are playing out in the South Pacific.
Even though China has developed proposals for establishing better cooperation with South American nations to more effectively manage squid resources, Eyzaguirre said that China needs to do more to mitigate the impact of its fleet in the region.
He told SeafoodSource that he has spoken directly to Chinese officials - including at a conference hosted by Shanghai Ocean University and the Chinese government in August - and told them that in order to improve the "negative perception" around their distant-water fleet, they need to collaborate more with various regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs), specifically the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) in this case.
"We said [at the Shanghai conference] that the data doesn't lie: China has not taken any initiative to adopt a conservation and management measure for jumbo squid on the high seas in the nearly 15 years of this RFMO's existence," Eyzaguirre said.
Still, Eyzaguirre said he "received signals" in Shanghai that Chinese officials desired closer ties with CALAMASUR moving forward.
"It was important for us to tell them that we have no particular animosity toward them but, rather, that we believe they are not playing a responsible leadership role in developing sustainable management for this fishery and that this affects Latin American artisanal fishing and its export industry," he said. "[China's] lack of initiative in the SPRFMO is a concrete fact."
China's stated desire to comply with South American regulations and collaborate with authorities, however, has largely been met with skepticism in the past.
"China operates the world's largest distant-water fleet, with many vessels fishing under minimal or no oversight, transhipping catches at sea, and repeatedly accused of human rights violations," Europêche CEO Daniel Voces told SeafoodSource earlier this year. "Under these circumstances, terms like fair competition, traceability, and sustainability lose all meaning."
In South America in particular, CALAMASUR has pushed hard to implement control measures on Asian squid fleets entering Peruvian ports, including strict compliance with satellite tracking operated by the Peruvian government. The Chinese fleet has responded by heading to ports with less oversight.
"In 2025, no Chinese vessels have entered Peru, choosing instead to seek refuge in Chile," Eyzaguirre said.
Such actions run counter to the stated promises of greater collaboration, Eyzaguirre said, but he added that he would be happy to visit with Chinese officials again to establish a more participative partnership.
"A change in China's role regarding jumbo squid is still needed for active cooperation to flow naturally. I would gladly visit China again, as I would any other country where opportunities for dialogue are opened," he said.
The problems in the South Pacific fishery are not just limited to the Chinese fleet.
A recent panel at the Conxemar exhibition, which was held in Vigo, Spain, from 7 to 9 October, titled "Jumbo Squid: Science, Management, and Markets" highlighted that the fishery is also dealing with limited regional stock data and a lack of coordinated management among producing countries, not just China.
"Chile and Peru have made significant progress, but without a stronger regional response within SPRFMO, the risk remains," Eyzaguirre said on the panel.