Jul 12 (Japan Today) - A surprisingly growing problem in Japan has been the poaching of those gelatinous-looking echinoderms sea cucumbers. While they may not be much to look at, these creatures can fetch a fair price on the black market for their use in cuisine and holistic medicine.
This, combined with the relatively lax regulation on their fishing and export, make them an ideal low-risk-high-yield target for yakuza fishermen, who are not only a real thing, but fairly common if the number of arrests over the years are any indication.
However, in the early morning of 8 July the Rumoi Coast Guard in Hokkaido uncovered a unique sea cucumber heist, not only in its scale but in the perpetrators involved. Having received a tip that poaching may have been going on off the coast of Tomamae, Hokkaido, the Coast Guard were out on patrol when they spotted an inflatable raft with an outboard motor.
By the time the small craft made it to shore, officers were already waiting for its captain. All in all they rounded up 11 people who were well equipped with diving gear, submersible machines, and cars. They also had 688.3 kilograms of sea cucumbers in their possession with a street value of about 2.2 million yen.
