Do normal fishing ships appear on Naval radars ? If yes China can use them to swarm USN ships, probably load many with explosives to attack, that could be a bad-*** strategy if it works.
Swamping attack is not a new occurrence, Japanese uses swamping attack at the dying stage of WW2 to some degree of success, but it's mostly hit and miss. Take USS Laffey for example, it was attacked by 50+ Japanese planes, both with conventional attacks and Kamakazi strike. Laffey was hit by 4 bombs and 6 Kamakazi (Out of that 50 planes) and down at least 32 + plane, it floats and it is now a museum ship in Patriot Point, SC
en.wikipedia.org
Now, that's a single destroyed on a picket duty. It's not an aircraft carrier surrounded by its battle group escort. Completed with Naval and Air Cover, yet, it's based on the ships own agility (The ship dodged a lot of the Kamikaze Attack).The damage is not extensive. What would you think if a Fleet of 50 Fishing boat, which is less maneuverable than Aircraft swamping a fully protected Carrier with 5 Destroyer, 1 Cruiser and at least 4 Carrier Battlegroup as escort??
From what we learn from USS Laffey attack, such swamping attack is very hard to organise, and you no longer have a few solid element you have to control, and even in the case with the Japanese where there are people behind the plane, that still a giant blob of mess to attack the Laffey,
Then you have the firepower, Laffey was not really armed to the teeth like Carrier and their Battlegroup do, Laffey do not have CIWS, do not have mk41 launcher, do not have air cover (it did at the end) the problem is, Working with E-2D, those swamping fishing boat would have been picked up long before they get into the Carrier Exclusion zone, then you will have all the escort and probably air sorties to lock at all those target, 5 AB class destroyer can combine lock a total of 1000+ target. And fire their SM-2 Missile and 5 inch on target from 23 miles away to 100 miles away. That would already take out chunk of those Swarming fishing boat. And then you also have airpower and lock at anything that's escape the escort net. Then if the formation has not yet been broken, you will face close in weapon system and crew serve weapon on those boat.
In short, a swarming attack today on any protected carrier are usually pointless. You will need more fishing boat than the entire Armament of the entire Carrier Battlegroup to be effective, and there are a lot of armament and firepower on board of a CBG