The Argentine-Chinese Fish Wars of 20XX

One of the under-told stories of the last 20-yrs remains the strip-mining of the sea by mostly Asian, specifically Chinese fisherman. They make the old Soviet factory ships seem like amateur hour.

With increasing numbers of ships chasing ever decreasing fish stocks, responsible nations are slowly moving to better protect fish stocks in national waters. They are trying to learn from what happened to the USA and Canada on the Grand Banks and Flemish Cap.

Many nations, like those off Africa, do not have the resources or capability to police their territorial waters to secure fish stocks for sustainable local use. Other nations do.

What happens when nations bound by the rule of law come face to face with the outlaw ocean?

Every wonder why our Coast Guard ships, and those of other nations, are armed?

It ain't for decoration;

Argentina's coast guard says it sank a Chinese fishing vessel that was fishing in a restricted area off the South American country's coast.

The Argentine Naval Prefecture chased and eventually sank the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 vessel after detecting it illegally fishing within the country's exclusive economic zone, officials said Tuesday. 

First, according to a statement from the Argentine coast guard, warning shots were fired. The Chinese vessel, Argentine authorities said, responded by turning off its lights and deliberately trying to crash. 

"On distinct occasions, the offending boat realized maneuvers aimed at colliding with the coast guard, putting not only its own crew at risk, but also the personnel of the coast guard," the statement said. 

That's why the coast guard opened fire, Argentine officials said. 

The vessel sank, and four people on board -- three crew members and the captain -- were rescued by Argentina's coast guard. 

China said that the other 28 crew members who'd been on the Chinese vessel were saved by Chinese fishing vessels nearby.

Of course, the follow-on question will be; when is the inflection point when the Chinese begin to push back? What happens when people die?

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UPDATE: Here is the video that best shows the engagement.

Efectivos de Prefectura, a bordo del guardacostas GC-24 “Mantilla”, protagonizaron una riesgosa persecución de 3 horas para intentar capturar al buque “HUA XIANG 801”, de bandera china, que fue detectado pescando ilegalmente dentro de la Zona Económica Exclusiva pic.twitter.com/UHyp2xKC4I

— Prefectura Naval Arg (@PrefecturaNaval) March 2, 2019