No. of Chinese boats fishing illegally near NLL more than double despite crackdown
The number of Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea has more than doubled since the government announced a sweeping crackdown in late August, the Korea Coast Guard said Friday. About 190 Chinese boats were operating near the de facto inter-Korean sea border early this month, up from about 80 in late August. The figure is 50 fewer than the 240…
The number of Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea has more than doubled since the government announced a crackdown in late August, according to the Korea Coast Guard. As of early this month, there are approximately 190 Chinese boats in the area, compared to about 80 in late August.
This is 50 fewer than the 240 boats counted a year earlier, indicating that the number of boats typically rises during the autumn fishing season. The crackdown, announced on August 27, involved deploying more Coast Guard special operations personnel, removing illegal fishing gear, installing artificial structures to block illegal fishing, and revising the law to penalize vessels that anchor for purposes unrelated to passage.
The Coast Guard aimed to drive all Chinese fishing boats out of the area, but foreign vessels are banned from fishing in the waters, while Chinese boats exploit the division of the Korean Peninsula.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
