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…
In recent weeks, the number of Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea has surged more than double, according to the Korea Coast Guard. As of early this month, approximately 190 Chinese vessels were patrolling the area, compared to around 80 in late August. This increase comes despite a government crackdown that was announced in late August and included deploying more Coast Guard special operations personnel, removing illegal fishing gear, installing artificial structures to obstruct illegal fishing, and revising the law to penalize unauthorized anchoring.
The Coast Guard and various ministries, including foreign affairs, unification, national defense, and oceans and fisheries, jointly announced the measures on August 27. The crackdown aimed to compel all Chinese fishing boats to vacate the region. While foreign vessels are prohibited from fishing in these waters, Chinese boats exploit the division by illegal fishing activities.
Interestingly, the number of boats counted one year prior was 240, indicating a decrease of 50 from the current count. It is worth noting that the number of boats typically escalates during the autumn fishing season.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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