Footage shown of illegal fishing by N.Korean boats

Dec 16, 2017 | News On Japan

Dec 16, 2017 (NHK) - Japan's Coast Guard has released video footage of North Korean boats illegally fishing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The video clips shown on Friday were taken in September and November in a fishing ground known as Yamatotai off the Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast.

The Coast Guard has been stepping up patrols in the area since July. North Korean boats began to appear there several years ago to illegally fish for squid.

In footage taken in September, a Coast Guard patrol vessel repeatedly warns a North Korean boat sailing through high waves.

Another video image shows a patrol vessel firing water cannons at a boat that does not respond to its warnings. A crewmember is seen pulling up an anchor.

Coast Guard officials say the boat in the video is made of steel and is about 30 to 40 meters in length. But they say many North Korean fishing boats are made of wood and around 10 meters long.

The ocean often becomes rough and turbulent around the fishing ground in winter, making operations difficult for small fishing boats.

Coast Guard officials say that since late November there have been few North Korean boats spotted in the area. But they say in the past, some boats that initially left the area after receiving warnings or being targeted by water cannons subsequently returned.

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