Jeju Coast Guard Seizes Chinese Vessel for Failing to Notify Entry and Exit

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Jeongpil] Jeju Maritime Police Station (Chief Park Sangwook) announced on the 7th that it has seized Chinese pair trawl fishing vessel A, which operated without notification upon entry and exit about 100 km southwest of Chagwido, Jeju City.

Jeju Maritime Police discovered the Chinese fishing vessel A (210t/pair trawl/Onryeong-registered/10 crew members) around 1 PM the previous day and deployed a 3,000-ton patrol ship patrolling nearby waters. At around 1:45 PM, two high-speed boats with a maritime special task force onboard conducted an inspection and search.

The inspection revealed that the Chinese fishing vessel A departed from Zhoushan Port, Zhejiang Province, China, around 6 AM on the 10th of last month for fishing. It notified the Korea Fisheries Cooperative Federation upon entering the Republic of Korea’s fishing agreement line on the afternoon of the 29th of last month. However, after fishing until 6 AM on the 3rd and exiting Korean waters, it did not notify the Korea Fisheries Cooperative Federation of its exit information.

Despite re-entering Korean waters at around 10:10 AM on the 3rd and continuing fishing, the vessel failed to notify the Korea Fisheries Cooperative Federation of its entry information and engaged in fishing activities in the Republic of Korea’s exclusive economic zone, violating restrictions or conditions attached to the permit.

Accordingly, Jeju Maritime Police completed COVID-19 quarantine measures for the Chinese fishing vessel A at around 11:26 PM the previous day and seized the vessel on charges of violating Article 10 (Restrictions or Conditions on Permits, etc.) of the Act on the Exercise of Sovereign Rights Regarding Foreign Fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone. A bail of 40 million KRW was received, and the vessel was released.

A Jeju Maritime Police official stated, “We will strictly crack down to eradicate unauthorized activities of Chinese fishing vessels that repeatedly violate mesh size regulations and fail to notify entry and exit, engaging in illegal fishing.”

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