Two Chinese dragnet trawlers were caught illegally fishing in the West Sea under South Korean jurisdiction on Saturday and are being brought to the country for legal action, the Korean Coast Guard said Sunday. 

The Taean Maritime Police Station of the Korea Coast Guard said that it had seized two 40-ton Chinese fishing boats that illegally caught a total of 400 kilograms of cod, squid and Korean cero while guarding the exclusive economic zone in the West Sea.

The crew members violently resisted the Coast Guard’s attempt to seize the vessels, throwing hand axes and shackles at the Korean officers. They face charges of obstruction of justice as well as violation of the Economic Zone Fishery Sovereignty of South Korea Act.

The Taean Maritime Police Station stepped up its crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by operating a 24-hour surveillance system with 1,500-ton patrol ships, it said, with an average of 200 Chinese fishing boats caught illegally operating in the West Sea daily.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)