| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russia ordered to free Japan boat |
| 2007-08-07 |
| An international tribunal has ordered Russia to release a Japanese fishing vessel seized off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula two months ago. The ruling, by the Law of the Sea tribunal, based in Germany, came in response to a complaint by Japan. The Russians alleged that the boat had exceeded its allowed catch. The tribunal ordered the Japanese side to pay a bond equivalent to about $400,000 (£197,000) to secure the vessel's release. That is less than half the sum demanded by Moscow. Sergey Ganzha, Russia's consul general in Hamburg, where the court is located, said Russia accepted the ruling but believed the bond should have been higher. A Japanese official said Tokyo was "basically satisfied" with the tribunal's ruling. The Hoshin Maru 88 and its crew of 17 was captured at the beginning of June. The court said the complaint by Russia that the Hoshin Maru had illegally declared 20 tonnes of raw sockeye salmon as cheaper salmon "should not be considered as a minor offence or as an offence of a purely technical nature". Russia and Japan have had frequent disputes over fishing rights, with Russian coast guard ships often moving in on Japanese trawlers. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #3 South Koreans put the Japanese to shame. On radar, their fleets look like islands. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-08-07 22:03 |
| #2 In the NASA earthlights image, there are bright areas out to sea.. the Japanese fishing fleet.. |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-08-07 18:36 |
| #1 Fish poaching has really jumped in recent years, with the market offering huge sums for what were common fish. Japan actually faces a shortage of tuna, because demand has skyrocketed far beyond the ability of wild stocks to fill with over fishing. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-07 00:10 |