# Fishing ships stop working after depleting fish and do not automatically move to nearby fish **URL:** \ **Category:** II - Report a Bug\ **Created:** [September 23, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892 "2026-09-23T13:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/yukihime9_8/32/216924_2.png) [@yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/yukihime9_8)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892/1 "2026-09-23T13:38:14Z")
### ▶ GAME INFORMATION 👇 _These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed._ - GAME BUILD #: 185872 GAME PLATFORM: Steam OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows11 ### ▶ ISSUE EXPERIENCED 👇 _DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE_ BUG PER THREAD. I always play single-player Skirmish against AI opponents. Since September 23, 2026, I have experienced two issues with fishing ships. 1. Fishing ships stop working During the Dark Age and Feudal Age, fishing ships work normally. After depleting fish, they automatically move to other nearby fish. However, after advancing to the Castle Age, fishing ships stop automatically moving to nearby fish after depleting their current fishing location. 1. Fish remain visible after being depleted Some fish remain visible on the map even though they appear to have already been depleted. When I send a fishing ship toward these fish, they disappear as the ship approaches. This makes fishing extremely difficult and time-consuming. I have restarted the game and tested it in three separate Skirmish games, but the issues persist. I have recorded two separate videos showing these problems. ### ▶ FREQUENCY OF ISSUE 👇 _How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!_ - **100%** of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS) ### ▶ REPRODUCTION STEPS 👇 _List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!_ Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue: 1. Start a single-player Skirmish game against AI. 2. Build a dock and create fishing ships during the Dark Age. 3. Continue fishing during the Feudal Age. Fishing ships still work normally. 4. Advance to the Castle Age and continue fishing. 5. Observe that fishing ships stop automatically moving to nearby fish after depleting their current fishing location.Observe that some depleted fish remain visible on the map but disappear when a fishing ship approaches them. 6. Some depleted fish remain visible on the map but disappear when a fishing ship approaches them. ### ▶ EXPECTED RESULT 👇 _What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?_ After depleting a fish location, fishing ships should automatically move to another nearby fish location and continue collecting food without requiring manual commands. ### ▶ IMAGE 👇 _ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem._ Video 1: Depleted fish remain visible on the map and disappear when approached. > **[Age of Empires II\_ Definitive Edition 2026-09-23 19-32-15.mp4](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yZuPKsIqlvcoTR64vxduwAMctW5uR88X/view?usp=drive_link)** > > Google Drive file. Video 2: Fishing ships stop working after depleting fish. > **[Age of Empires II\_ Definitive Edition 2026-09-23 18-51-51.mp4](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15QAE8K07cBl_fw4HROn6QLIVLdY6d6om/view?usp=drive_link)** > > Google Drive file. ### ▶ GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING) 👇 _Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service._ - ---
**Author:** ![H\_FE](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/h_fe/32/146888_2.png) [@H\_FE](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/H_FE)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892/2 "2026-09-25T13:02:12Z")
Hi @yukihime9_8 Are you able to reproduce this issue when not using any mods in the game? I was not able to reproduce the fishing tiles being visible when they are depleted. On the other hand, we are investigating the issue of the fishing ship going idle when there are fishing tiles available. ---
**Author:** ![yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/yukihime9_8/32/216924_2.png) [@yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/yukihime9_8)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:33am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892/3 "2026-10-11T09:33:26Z")
Hi, thank you for your reply. I checked my installed mods and found that “Legacy ES Maps” was enabled. I disabled “Legacy ES Maps” and tested the game again, but the same issues still occurred. The issue where fishing ships become idle after depleting fish still occurs. Regarding the issue where depleted fish remain visible on the map, I noticed that it becomes much more noticeable after reaching the Imperial Age. By the later part of the game, this visual issue occurred 100% of the time. The fish still appeared to be swimming on the map, but when I sent a fishing ship toward them, they disappeared because they had already been depleted. So the issue still occurs even with “Legacy ES Maps” disabled. Thank you for investigating this. ---
**Author:** ![PhotonRiders](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/photonriders/32/28190_2.png) [@PhotonRiders](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/PhotonRiders)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:05pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892/4 "2026-10-15T13:05:33Z")
In the new campaigns happen all the time because almost all maps have water [DANES\_BUG.aoe2spgame](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/short-url/r6GdwtFLnfy5DT4ukx2ZVtfvV8X.aoe2spgame) (3.4 MB) Check in the south of the map, just to the right of the fishing ship in team 1 ---
**Author:** ![yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/yukihime9_8/32/216924_2.png) [@yukihime9\_8](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/yukihime9_8)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/fishing-ships-stop-working-after-depleting-fish-and-do-not-automatically-move-to-nearby-fish/289892/5 "2026-10-15T13:44:51Z")
Thank you for the information and save file! I’m having the same issue, so I hope this helps the developers identify the cause and fix it soon.