A window into what we’re reading in the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Marine Life Plundered in Unregulated Fishing Zone Near Argentina (The Guardian)

One of the world’s largest unregulated squid fisheries is located in Mile 201—a largely ungoverned strip of the high seas just beyond Argentina’s exclusive economic zones. Fishing hours there have increased between 2019 and 2024 in the area, as hundreds of foreign vessels arrive annually to plunder marine life. Yet this free-for-all poses serious concerns for other marine species as well. Crews on more than 50% of Chinese vessels and a fifth of Taiwanese vessels also have revealed the unreported capture and killing of seals, with culls sometimes numbering in the hundreds.

Many vessels in the fleets working in Mile 201 turn off their identification systems to avoid detection, thus increasing regulatory hurdles and putting their crews at risk. Workers also describe physical violence inflicted upon them. including hitting or strangulation, wage deductions, debt bondage, and excessive hours of work with little rest. Yet despite these dire conditions, much of the squid caught here ends up in markets in the EU, the UK, and in North America.

READ | Curbing China’s Massive – and Destructive – Distant Water Fishing Fleet

“Water Guardian” Farmers Reverse Desertification in Hungary (Associated Press)

The Great Hungarian Plain was once an important agricultural site, yet a region once rich in crops and grasses has given way to a landscape of parched soil featuring cracks and sand dunes. Climatic changes, improper land use, and inappropriate environmental management have combined to create semi-arid conditions as local precipitation declines, native wells dry out, and the overall water table sinks. But local farmers (known as “water guardians”) are now using thermal water to save the plains from complete desertification.

Surrounding spas in the region traditionally have extracted water from deep underground and redirected its flow into an unused canal. The water guardians altered this flow this past summer so that would artificially flood parts of the plains, adding a total of 2.5 hectares of water surface. Scientists now report a drastic improvement in the water balance of soil and surrounding vegetation within a 4-kilometer radius. These farmers hope to scale up their efforts in the future as Hungary battles declining vegetation due to high heat and low rainfall.

READ | Flood of Inequity: Confronting Climate Vulnerability Risk in China and Beyond

Indonesia’s Tin Mining Crackdown Also Consolidates State Power (The Diplomat)

Indonesia’s military-backed crackdown on illegal tin mining on Bangka and Belitung has shut down unlicensed operations across these two islands that produces nearly a fifth of global tin supply. The operation was launched by President Prabowo Subianto in 2025 a following corruption scandal in which executives at mining company PT Timah were convicted of laundering illegal tin via fake contracts and shell companies. However, this state-owned firm itself faced no corporate consequences for its actions. Indeed, seized mining assets worth approximately $420 million now are being transferred to PT Timah despite its central role in the corruption scheme.

The state-owned firm is now led by a retired army colonel who was appointed by the president—a consolidation which represents a broader trend of increasing military involvement in Indonesia’s economy. Meanwhile, the crackdown itself has created complex impacts on local mining communities, leaving artisanal workers unemployed as a decrease in operations provides some environmental relief. Activists now worry that once illegal mining is cleared, PT Timah will expand its operations into contested areas, including offshore zones near protected habitats that communities have protested to protect.

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