Authored by AAP via The Epoch Times,
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 Shepherd 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.
In a supplied image, fish found on board Chinese longlining vessel, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 138, at the time it was detained for alleged illegal fishing in NA, Tuvalu on July 9, 2026 PR Image/Supplied by Sea ShepardThe 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.
Sea Shepherd Australia Chair Peter Hammarstedt said illegal fishers were increasingly "going dark" by switching off their automatic identification systems, or using them to broadcast false information.
"It's very common practice, especially in the Pacific Ocean, for Chinese fishing vessels to transmit false positions," Hammarstedt told AAP.
"If you go onto some vessel tracking software websites, you'll see some Chinese fishing vessels appear on land, lik
