MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean navy adds submarine to keep track of foreign fishing fleets

A Scorpene-class attack submarine was deployed on a fisheries-enforcement patrol in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago and further south. (Pic Chilean Navy)

The Chilean Navy has bolstered patrol operations against illegal fishing in the South Pacific region and keeping track of fishing vessels crossing into the South Atlantic. Normally operations are the task of naval surface vessels and air surveillance, but last week it took the unusual step of deploying a Scorpene-class attack submarine on a fisheries-enforcement patrol in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago and further south.

According to Chilean sources while the region is designated as a marine protected area (MPA), its biodiversity has been threatened by industrial fishing, partly due to lack of strict enforcement.

The operation was carried out to verify and control the transit of the foreign fishing fleet in the vast region, which spans 100,000 square miles. During the same week, the Chilean Navy also dispatched its P68 Observer aircraft off the coast of Los Lagos region in Southern Chile.

“No irregularities or illegal actions were detected. This type of over-flight allows us to control and ensure that foreign ships are only sailing in transit heading south,” said P68 Second Lieutenant Joaquin Coca, who participated in the operation.

Last week the Chilean Navy further extended the operation to regions near the Strait of Magellan, using a Dauphin helicopter. In the past decade, the Strait has become a passageway for IUU fishing vessels that sail from the Pacific to the South Atlantic.

The Chilean Navy started implementing heavy ocean surveillance protocols in December 2020, following numerous incidents of IUU fishing along the Pacific Coast of South America. With an EEZ of over one million square nautical miles - the world’s tenth largest - Chile has identified IUU fishing as one of the leading maritime threats within its waters.

According to a 2022 study by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC), Chile loses approximately US$ 400 million in revenue from IUU fishing. Despite the positive diplomatic and trade relations between Chile and Beijing dating back to the time of the 1973 military coup, the extensive Chinese distant-water fishing fleet, in an annual ritual, has been blamed for this plunder.