Asahi reports… Even after discharge, Chinese fishing boats continue to operate in the waters off Hokkaido.
“Fisheries caught by Japanese fishing boats cannot be exported to China, but Chinese fishing boats distribute them to China.”
The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 25th that Chinese fishing boats continued to fish in the waters off Japan even after the discharge of contaminated water (treated water, as the Japanese government calls it) from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. With China imposing an embargo on Japanese seafood, it is pointed out that there is a high possibility that Chinese fishing boats are selling fish caught in waters near Japan as Chinese products.
Asahi tracked the activities of Chinese fishing boats with the ‘Global Fishing Watch (GFW)’, which can specify the maritime location and fishing situation using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) mounted on the vessel.
As a result of the newspaper’s investigation, they were able to confirm the activities of ‘a large number’ of Chinese fishing boats in the high seas 1,000km away from Nemuro City, Hokkaido, northern Japan, in the North Pacific region. This sea area is where saury, mackerel, and sardines are mainly caught between 40 to 50 degrees north latitude and 150 to 170 degrees east longitude.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, began discharging contaminated water on August 24. On August 3, before the release of water, 156 Chinese fishing boats were confirmed in these waters. On September 19, after the discharge of contaminated water, 162 vessels were confirmed.
According to the newspaper, 146 to 167 Chinese fishing boats have been confirmed daily in these waters recently, including the day of discharge of contaminated water. The newspaper reported that “there was no significant change” in Chinese fishing boat activities off Japan after the discharge of contaminated water.
In addition, according to GFW, Chinese fishing boats were confirmed to be fishing in waters 200km northwest of the main island of Okinawa after the discharge of contaminated water. It is also a place where Japanese fishing boats operate.
The Japan Fisheries Agency is also aware of this trend. It was revealed that the number of Chinese fishing boats operating in the relevant waters was approximately the same compared to the same period last year. The Fisheries Agency is also checking the catch amount of each country. We also found out that fishing boats from China and other countries have been catching saury since this summer.
In particular, the newspaper received confirmation from multiple companies engaged in deep-sea fishing in China that they were catching saury and other fish in the relevant waters as of September.
According to Kohei Oishi, executive director of the Japan Pacific Saury Net Fishery Cooperative Association, Japanese saury fishing boats are also aware of the presence of Chinese fishing boats operating in shallow waters.
Executive Director Oishi said, “Because China takes saury frozen on board,” “there are more crew members (on the vessel)” than Japanese fishing boats.
China is strongly opposed to Japan’s discharge of contaminated water. After the release, a ban on imports of Japanese seafood was immediately imposed. It explained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the embargo was an “emergency measure” to “effectively protect (China’s) public life and health and completely contain the risk.”
Asahi said, “Seafood products such as saury caught in these waters by Japanese fishing boats cannot be exported to China. However, he pointed out, “If the seafood caught in the same sea area by Chinese fishing boats is taken from China, it is made in China and is mainly distributed within China.”
According to the international organization North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), last year’s North Pacific saury catch was largest, followed by Taiwan, China, and Japan. These three countries account for 95% of the world’s catch. According to the Fisheries Agency, the total saury catch of NPFC member countries, including China, this year is 60,760 tons (as of September 16).
Japan’s saury catch last year was 18,000 tons, the lowest ever, and China’s was about 35,000 tons.
China’s saury fishing boats usually set sail in May or June and return to Chinese fishing ports around the end of the year. In other words, the saury fishing boats that set sail this year are continuing fishing even after Japan began discharging contaminated water. An official from deep-sea fisheries in Zhejiang Province, China, told the newspaper, “There is no problem with saury fishing right now. “I have not heard of any (Chinese) fishing boats returning home after the release of (contaminated water),” he said.
Yasuhiro Sanada, a visiting associate professor at Waseda University in Japan, told the newspaper, “While the import of Japanese marine products is completely banned, so many Chinese fishing boats are fishing in the North Pacific where Japanese fishing boats also operate. “What exists is a double standard, which feels uncomfortable,” he pointed out.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.