A comprehensive and revealing international investigation published by the Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial —titled "Following the Phantom Fleet That Determines the Price of Your Calamari Sandwich"—has just set off alarm bells in the European fishing market. However, viewed from the perspective of the South Atlantic, the article offers an invaluable geopolitical insight: it describes how the Spanish fleet, historically a partner of the British enclave in the Malvina Islands, is becoming—if one can call it that— a victim of China's aggressive expansion in the international waters beyond the 201st mile.

This scenario of commercial and industrial suffocation for Iberian shipowners fits perfectly with the recent admissions on colonial television ( Malvina Islands TV ), where the occupying authorities acknowledged the collapse of their catches and raised concerns that foreign fleets will cease operations in the islands due to a lack of profitability. When the plundering business no longer balances well in Vigo, the colonial structure of the islands begins to falter.

The "Ghost Armada" that disrupts the market

The report by El Confidencial exposes the complaints of shipowners in Vigo (Galicia) regarding the explosive growth of the Chinese fleet in the Southwest Atlantic, which increased its fishing effort by 85% between 2019 and 2024 .

According to data from the Latin American Foundation for Fisheries Sustainability cited in the article, while Spain barely moves about 25 squid fishing boats in the deep region, the Asian navy deploys between 300 and 500 vessels that operate at the edge of the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Edelmiro Ulloa , managing director of the Vigo Shipowners' Cooperative (ARVI), illustrated the impossibility of competing against this giant:"There are hundreds of ships that fish without quotas, spend several years at sea without setting foot in port, and have no qualms about keeping their employees in deplorable conditions... However, a good part of that fish ends up in the European market and is mixed with ours simply because it is cheaper."

The Loligo monopoly and the Kelper trap

The Spanish press article introduces a crucial technical detail that goes to the heart of the sovereignty dispute: Spain monopolizes the 16 illegal licenses granted by the British colony for fishing for the Loligo squid (Loligo gahi ) off the Malvina Islands coast. These catches, which amount to around 50,000 tons annually, constitute the true "white gold" of Galician shipowners and the main source of the Malvina Islanders' fiscal surplus.

However, for the Argentine shortfin squid (Illex argentinus ), the business has already collapsed. The uncontrolled overexploitation by Asian fleets on the high seas—which extract between 1.5 and 3 million tons annually—has depressed global prices due to extreme labor insecurity, where Chinese crew members earn salaries of barely 150 euros compared to 2,000 euros for European sailors.

The missing factor: The withdrawal of the Vigo fleet from the Malvinas

This is where El Confidencial 's investigation directly connects with the warnings issued from Puerto Argentino. The colonial television station left open the possibility that if two or three bad seasons follow one after another, the ship owners will decide that sending vessels to the Malvina Islands, so far from their bases, makes no financial sense .

The Spanish report confirms that this business transformation is already happening: faced with prohibitive freight costs, fuel, and resource scarcity, many traditional firms are shifting into the role oftraders or import managers, preferring to buy squid already processed in plants in Shandong (China) rather than finance loss-making fishing campaigns in the South Atlantic.

The pocket as a limit to colonialism

This situation demonstrates that the framework supporting the British occupation is not made of steel, but of financial paper. Officials from the Argentine Federal Fisheries Council , led by Juan Antonio López Cazorla , continue to remain silent at international trade fairs regarding companies operating with dual registration. But the global market and biological depletion are doing the work that national diplomacy is avoiding.

If the Galician fleet loses its ability to compete with China and its profit margins in the South Atlantic are eroded by the fuel crisis and resource depletion, purchasing British colonial fishing licenses will cease to be a viable option. When the "calamari sandwich" in Madrid is definitively supplied by squid processed in Asia, the main financier of the British military occupation of our Malvina Islands will have shut down.