The National Police Agency plans to install high-quality cameras capable of capturing objects from long distances, even during nighttime, to combat sea cucumber poaching.
Sea cucumbers, known as "black diamonds" for their value, are a luxury food especially popular in China, and are thought to be a source of revenue for yakuza crime syndicates. Police in Hokkaido have exposed a number of such organizations involved in poaching.
The NPA intends to introduce the cameras as early as this fiscal year and instruct local police headquarters to ramp up their crackdowns on poaching.
At around 1 a.m. on May 30, Hokkaido police investigators, who were involved in a stakeout, called out to a group of men loading large quantities of sea cucumber into a station wagon on a beach in the Hamamasu district of Ishikari, Hokkaido.
The men immediately fled, but the police arrested three of them at the scene on suspicion of illegally possessing 450 kilograms of sea cucumber in violation of the prefecture's marine fishing regulations.
Eighteen people involved in the incident were arrested by July, including three members of a Yamaguchi-gumi-affiliated crime group who acted as leaders. The three oversaw the poaching activities by arranging divers and monitoring the poaching, among other tasks, the police said.
The police found diving equipment while investigating the crime group's office and other facilities. The group is believed to have systematically conducted multiple poaching operations.
Sea cucumbers live in clusters on seabeds near the coast, enabling several hundred kilograms of the creatures to be caught in one night.
Poaching activities require significant manpower, such as divers, boat operators and brokers to sell catches. However, such operations "are easy for crime groups as they have strong organizational power," a senior investigative official said.
In early June, police discovered about 400 kilograms of poached sea cucumber in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, which led to the arrest of 18 people, including members of the Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate group. Another poaching scheme was uncovered on Sept. 11 in Omu in the prefecture, leading to the arrest of 13 people, including members of a crime group.
Sea cucumber poaching has also been detected in Aomori, Okayama and Nagasaki prefectures, and the involvement of yakuza crime syndicates has been pointed out.
Popularity in China
The popularity of sea cucumber in China has contributed to the rampant poaching. It is prized as a luxury ingredient in Chinese cuisine, along with shark fins and abalone, and often served as a simmered dish.
Dried sea cucumbers caught in Hokkaido are regarded as high quality and sell for several hundred thousands of yen per kilogram in China.
Poached sea cucumbers are thought to be sold in China through processors and brokers.
"Organized crime groups have their eyes on sea cucumber poaching as a new source of income," a senior NPA official said.
Repeated illegal fishing has reduced the volume of the sea cucumber catch at the Ishikari Bay fisheries cooperative's Hamamasu branch, and even forced fishermen to limit their catches. The catch quota for sea cucumber in 2018 was less than 2 tons in 2018, less than half the 4 tons permitted in 2008.
"The scale of the decline has severely impacted fishermen's lives," a branch spokesperson said.
In poaching investigations, police are required in principle to catch the perpetrators in the act and seize the sea cucumbers as evidence. There have been cases, however, in which police have quit sting operations because they were noticed before the culprits could haul in their catches, according to sources. The culprits then toss the sea cucumbers back into the ocean.
The high-performance cameras to be installed can pick up objects about several kilometers away, even when it is dark. They can capture images of poachers in the act, allowing police to obtain proof even if the culprits dispose of their catches.
Eight mobile cameras will be delivered to the Hokkaido police and other authorities this fiscal year, while another four units will be delivered next fiscal year.
In response to the repeated sea cucumber poaching, the Fisheries Agency plans to raise the maximum fine for violations of the Fisheries Law from 2 million yen to 30 million yen, according to sources.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
