The interception of a Chinese vessel accused of illegal fishing highlights the technical lengths many use to remain undetected across millions of square kilometres of open ocean.
Tuvalu Police operating on a Sea Shepard patrol boat boarded and arrested a Chinese longliner, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 138, on July 9 for allegedly illegally operating within the small South Pacific nation’s waters.
The vessel was allegedly running with its navigation light turned off and transmitting false data showing it to be in different area—an increasingly common practice known as “spoofing.”
After boarding the ship, officers found it did not hold a valid permit to fish the area, detaining the vessel and escorting it to the Port of Funafuti for further investigation….
‘Going Dark’: The High-Tech Tricks Behind Illegal Chinese Fishing in the Pacific
