Crab fishing season in Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea has been a bumper one with the catch standing at 44.3 tons in April, eight times more than the 5.5 tons caught a year ago. But the fishermen in the island far from rejoicing have complained that they have had enough of Chinese fishing boats in their waters. Last week it is found that 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.
These boats headed across the de-facto border toward Yeonpyeong Island. These Chinese ships use a pair trawl net, which is banned for South Korean fishermen in those waters. It is fact that 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.
It is said that 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 and it is happening because our country is weak. If it had happened in Japanese waters, Japan would have already arrested them all, he added.
The illegal infiltration of Chinese fishing ships is also a headache to the South Korean Navy and maritime police. According to a Navy official 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.
