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It is a bumper season for crab fishing in Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, with the catch standing at 44.3 tons in April, eight times more than the 5.5 tons caught a year ago. Yet fishermen in the island, far from rejoicing, complain they have had enough of Chinese fishing boats encroaching on their fishing grounds.
Last Saturday, some 100 fishing boats were tightly lined up off Seokdo Island, 1 km off the northernmost of Yeonpyeong Island. They all flew the red flags of China, working very close Northern Limit Line on the North Korean side. Then suddenly two of them headed across the de-facto border toward Yeonpyeong Island. The reason the two ships moved together is that Chinese ships use a pair trawl net, which is banned for South Korean fishermen in those waters. The pair trawl net searches even the bottom of the sea and thus rakes in all kinds of sea creature including seaweed, shellfish and fry as well as crabs. The Chinese trawlers came south to a point only 500-600 m off Pyeonpyeong Island, with the sound of their engines audible from the island¡¯s tip. There is no doubt they violated the NLL.
A resident on the island said Chinese boats come close enough so fishermen onboard urinating. ¡°It¡¯s happening because our country is weak. If it had happened in Japanese waters, Japan would have already arrested them all,¡± he added.
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Chinese fishing boats crowd near the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea on Sunday.
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Chinese fishing boats reportedly pay the North for permission to catch crabs in the North¡¯s waters. But the problem is the ships often cross the NLL and sweep the South¡¯s fishing ground with pair trawl nets. The complaint goes back to the late 1990s, and of late some 200-300 Chinese boats have been seen every day.
The illegal operation of Chinese fishing ships is also a headache to the South Korean Navy and maritime police. A Navy official said, ¡°Maritime police stops the Chinese boats and fines them, but it¡¯s not easy to crack down because they usually take us by surprise by remaining on the North Korean side mostly and suddenly swooping down.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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