Chinese Coast Guard vessels conduct boarding inspections on Japanese fishing boats! On August 30, according to reports from Japanese media, a mackerel fishing vessel affiliated with the Atsuma Fisheries Cooperative in Hokkaido’s Atsuma Town was inspected by Chinese Coast Guard personnel on August 24 in international waters of the North Pacific. According to sources, the vessel was requested to undergo inspection around 2 a.m. on the 24th; the inspection covered onboard environmental conditions and fishing log records, but no violations were found.
The inspecting vessels are believed to be China Coast Guard 6305 or China Coast Guard 6501, both of which passed through the Tsugaru Strait on July 31 and proceeded to this region for fisheries patrol. Clearly, as reported by Japanese media, our coast guard vessels conducted boarding inspections on Japanese fishing boats in international waters. But why do we have the authority to inspect Japanese fishing vessels?
The fundamental reason is that we are a party to the Convention on Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean. Under the convention's procedural framework, enforcement vessels from contracting parties may conduct boarding inspections on fishing vessels from all other contracting states in these high seas areas. Since Japan is also a contracting party, our inspection of Japanese vessels is entirely legitimate and reasonable. In fact, mackerel in the North Pacific high seas are highly migratory species, with fishing vessels from multiple countries operating in this region.
Inspecting fishing logs and catch records aims to detect issues such as over-quota fishing, underreporting of catches, and illegal fishing gear usage, thereby protecting high-seas fishery resources and ensuring their sustainability—a common goal shared by all contracting parties. Our enforcement action this time is not targeted at Japan, but rather a fulfillment of our rights as a contracting party. Clearly, such enforcement operations help enhance the capabilities of our coast guard vessels in long-range navigation, remote-sea response, and foreign-related law enforcement, while strengthening our presence in the northwestern Pacific.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874917043271692/
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