Mega Chinese fishing fleet seen from space: Every dot is a fishing boat

India Today

12-05-2025

A striking image captured from the International Space Station (ISS) has brought global attention to the sheer scale of China's distant-water fishing fleet.Shared by A. Pettit, whose father astronaut Don Pettit took the photograph during his recent ISS mission, the image shows hundreds of bright dots scattered across the dark ocean-each one a fishing boat trawling the seabed, not a city skyline.advertisementThe spectacle is so vast and luminous that it is visible from space, underscoring the magnitude of China's maritime presence.When I saw this with my own eyes, one thought that came to mind was the famous opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: It is the best of times for fishing, it is the worst of times for fish https://t.co/DWJsGE2X2l pic.twitter.com/fVOUwx1B8r— Chun (@satofishi) May 12, 2025
Reacting to the image, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa shared a video of the fleet from his own mission, reflecting on the scene with a quote from Charles Dickens: 'It is the best of times for fishing, it is the worst of times for fish'The haunting view highlights not just the technological prowess of modern fishing, but also the immense pressure it places on marine ecosystems.advertisementChina's distant-water fishing fleet is the largest in the world, with an estimated 2,700 ships operating across oceans far from home.Satellite and radio-frequency tracking have revealed that many of these vessels operate in tightly packed formations, often switching off their tracking systems to evade detection and skirt international regulations.This 'going dark' tactic has been linked to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, raising alarms among environmentalists and neighboring countries.Cool frame from this video over the South China Sea!Fishing fleets are very distinct from orbit. pic.twitter.com/rY7LyACM7h— A. Pettit (@PettitFrontier) May 12, 2025In regions like the South China Sea and near the Galpagos Islands, such fleets have been accused of depleting fish stocks, damaging sensitive marine habitats, and undermining local economies.Security experts also warn that these fleets, operating under civilian guise, may serve dual roles in intelligence gathering and asserting China's territorial claims.As images from space make clear, the scale of industrial fishing-and the challenges it poses to ocean health and maritime security-has never been more visible.