Incheon City Special Judicial Police Arrest 7 for Illegal Fishing During Fish Spawning Season

Incheon City special judicial police are cracking down on businesses selling illegally caught juvenile blue crabs.
[Photo by Incheon City]

Asia Economy reporter Park Hyesook] The Incheon Special Judicial Police announced on the 13th that they have booked seven people on charges of illegal fishing activities during the spawning season of marine resources (violation of the Fisheries Act, etc.).

The special judicial police conducted combined land and sea crackdowns mainly around Incheon ports and harbors from April to June, resulting in the detection of numerous fishing vessels that illegally captured, distributed, and sold juvenile fish without permission during the spawning season.

Key cases include one fishing vessel that operated in violation of the jjukkumi (webfoot octopus) closed season, one unregistered leisure vessel transporting gaebul (peanut worms) using a powered water leisure device, two fishing vessels that captured and harvested unagi (eel) without permission, and one company violating the ban on selling juvenile crabs.

In addition, four other illegal fishing activities were detected, including violations of fishing area restrictions during the marine resource spawning period, leisure vessels carrying illegal fishing gear, fishing vessels violating the total allowable catch (TAC) allocation for crabs, and non-compliance with fishing suspension orders.

The special judicial police plan to either send those caught this time to the prosecution or notify the district office to receive administrative sanctions.

According to the Fisheries Act, those who operate fisheries without obtaining fishing permits or registration may face imprisonment for up to three years or fines of up to 30 million won.

Also, the Marine Resources Management Act stipulates that violations of marine resource capture and harvesting (closed season), possession, distribution, storage, or sale of illegally caught marine products are punishable by imprisonment for up to two years or fines of up to 20 million won.

An Incheon city official stated, "As chronic illegal fishing activities have not been eradicated, we plan to strengthen crackdowns during the crab closed season and the autumn fishing season following the spawning season."

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