Correspondence
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed two contact addresses for Ardapez.
The email said: "We’re contacting you in light of our research on the practice of ‘flagging in’, whereby fishing vessels owned by companies in one country are flagged to another country in order to access that second country’s waters. We are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally.
We understand that Ardapez is a subsidiary of the Chinese company, Dalian Huafeng Aquatic Products. Records indicate that Ardapez operates at least two fishing vessels which are flagged to Argentina.
As noted above, we are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally. Can you please verify that Ardapez operates Argentine-flagged vessels, and that Ardapez is a subsidiary of Dalian Huafeng Aquatic Products?
Please let us know your response by close of business on July 19, 2024, noting that all interactions remain on record."