Seogwipo Coast Guard Seizes Two Chinese Fishing Vessels for Illegal Fishing

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] Two Chinese fishing vessels violating restrictions and conducting illegal fishing in the waters south of Seogwipo, Jeju City, were seized by the Coast Guard.

According to the Seogwipo Coast Guard on the 19th, the Chinese fishing vessels A (single trawl net, Onryeong-registered, 216 tons, 8 crew members) and B (single trawl net, Sangsan-registered, 202 tons, 9 crew members) were seized for fishing in Korean waters while inadequately recording fishing logs and failing to report entry.

At around 12:55 PM the previous day, the patrol ship 3006, performing maritime security duties, detected the Chinese fishing vessel A suspected of illegal fishing about 93 km south of Seogwipo (about 22 km inside the fishing agreement line) on radar.

Subsequently, the Maritime Special Task Force boarded vessel A and conducted an inspection, discovering that from January until the previous day, the fishing log entries made while fishing in Korean waters contained a total of 75 errors that were not corrected according to procedures, and the captain's signature was omitted six times.

The vessel was seized at 3:28 PM on suspicion of violating restriction conditions (inadequate fishing log entries) under Article 17, Paragraph 2 and Paragraph 10 (restrictions or conditions on permits, etc.) of the Exclusive Economic Zone Fisheries Sovereignty Act.

Also, at 10:37 PM the previous day, the patrol ship 3003 detected a Chinese fishing vessel suspected of illegal fishing about 154 km west of Chagwido (25 km inside the fishing agreement line) on radar.

The Maritime Special Task Force boarded vessel B to verify illegal fishing and found that from January until the previous day, the fishing log entries contained 63 errors that were not corrected according to procedures, and despite entering Korean waters around 2 PM on the 17th without reporting entry, the vessel had fished 163 kg of hairtail and butterfish in one instance.

Vessel B was seized at 1:37 AM on the same day on suspicion of violating restriction conditions (inadequate fishing log entries) and failing to report entry.

The Seogwipo Coast Guard is investigating vessels A and B at sea and plans to impose a bond penalty according to the law if the charges are confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Seogwipo Coast Guard has seized a total of 10 Chinese fishing vessels conducting illegal fishing this year.

Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil panax33@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.