Japan Seizes Chinese Fishing Boat for Trying to Evade Inspection

Fukuoka, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Fisheries Agency has seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its 47-year-old Chinese captain as the ship allegedly tried to flee to evade an inspection in the Japanese exclusive economic zone off an island in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki. It was the first time since 2022 for Japanese authorities to capture a Chinese vessel. The agency will carefully investigate the possibility that the Chinese vessel was engaging in illegal fishing operations in the area. According to the agency, the Chinese vessel allegedly failed to comply with an order to stop for onboard inspection issued by a fisheries patrol ship of the agency and fled instead, in a sea area about 170 kilometers southwest of the island of Meshima, part of the Nagasaki city of Goto, on Thursday. The Chinese captain was arrested on suspicion of violating Japan’s fisheries sovereignty law. The agency’s Kyushu Fisheries Coordination Office said that a total of 11 people, including the captain, were on the fishing boat at the time of the incident. The captain was released Friday after a document guaranteeing the payment of deposit money was submitted. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]