A fishing vessel with one ton of squid ad 80 toms of chum salmon on board detained in international waters east of Japan, is suspected of illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing activity, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
The Chinese-flagged Run Da was boarded on June 23 some 860 miles east of Hokkaido, Japan, by crews from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley, homeported at Kodiak, and People’s Republic of China Coast Guard officers.
The suspected vessel was sighted by a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak C-130 aircraft forward deployed on a North Pacific Coast Guard Forum multi-national fisheries enforcement patrol supported by the U.S., Canada, China, Japan, Russia and the Republic of Korea.
The Run Da is suspected of violating a worldwide driftnet moratorium called for by the United Nations General Assembly.
Custody of the Run Da and its crew was transferred to the PRC Coast Guard in the Sea of Japan, for the vessel to be escorted back to China for prosecution. The PRC has jurisdiction for any enforcement action taken on the vessel, mater and crew.
