This file photo shows a Chinese fishing boat seized by the Coast Guard on April 21, 2021, on charges of illegally fishing in South Korea’s western waters. (Yonhap)
INCHEON, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — An average of 65 unlicensed Chinese fishing boats have been appearing in waters near the western inter-Korean sea border every day this month ahead of the April-June crab catching season, a sharp rise from about 15 boats on average during the same period last year.
According to the Coast Guard, the average number of illegal Chinese fishing boat entries across the western inter-Korean sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), for March represents a fourfold increase compared to 2020.
The daily average of illegal Chinese boat entries during the closed fishing season in January stood at 25.
In March of last year, illegal Chinese boat crossings soared to 110 per day on average due to the Coast Guard’s mostly contactless law enforcement activities amid the pandemic.
But due to the increase in illegal entries, the Coast Guard reintroduced its policy to arrest and seize boats entering illegally in the second half of 2021. Authorities, however, were found to have not made a single arrest or seizure during the January-March period.
(Yonhap)
