A vast fleet of boats thought to be from North Korea is illegally operating in the Yamatotai area, a rich fishing ground in Japan's exclusive economic zone off the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
According to fishing industry sources, about 1,500 boats have clustered in the area during the current peak season for catching squid. Crew members on one ship even threw stones at a nearby Japanese fishing vessel.
The Japan Squid Fisheries Association plans to submit a written request for stronger security measures in the area to the Fisheries Agency on Friday.
Fishing ships thought to be from North Korea have been detected in the area in previous years. According to the agency, this year wooden and steel ships have swarmed to the Yamatotai area and waters near the boundary between Japan and Russia's exclusive economic zones, which stretches northeast for about 700 kilometers.
Agency patrol boats have used water cannons and taken other steps to repel the intruding ships, but they repeatedly dart in and out of Japan's EEZ. Nearby Japanese fishing vessels struggle to operate under these conditions.
"When authorities threaten to spray water at these ships, they hide behind the Japanese boats," said Hideki Hiratsuka, 65, head of the squid fishing fleet at the Ogi branch of the Ishikawa Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Associations. "I want the authorities to take tougher security steps, such as seizing those vessels."
On the afternoon of Oct. 19, the Wakashio Maru No. 85, based in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, came within about 20 meters of two fishing boats -- one wooden, one steel -- in fishing grounds about 200 kilometers west of the Tsugaru Strait between Hokkaido and Honshu.
When Wakashio Maru crew members used hand gestures to tell the two boats to leave the EEZ, fishermen on the wooden boat reportedly twice threw stones at the Japanese vessel. The Wakashio Maru crew members were unharmed and the boat suffered no damage, but the captain, Ken Honma, was frustrated by the incident.
"We can't do anything even if they operate illegally and act as though they own the place. It's annoying," said Honma, 62.
Waters near the Yamatotai area are rich squid and shrimp fishing grounds. Since 2016, many fishing boats thought to be from North Korea, which is not bound by any fisheries agreements, have flocked to the area.
Last year, the Fisheries Agency warned a cumulative total of 5,191 foreign ships illegally fishing in Japan's EEZ to leave the waters. From May to Oct. 17 this year, the agency had issued such warnings to 4,481 vessels.
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