South Korea and China are moving to introduce a one-strike out system for their fishing boats caught fishing illegally in the other country's territorial waters, the Seoul government said Thursday.
Currently, boats caught while fishing illegally in the other country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are banned from entering the other country's EEZ for three years.
The so-called one-out, three-year system was introduced only this year following an agreement during last year's annual Korea-China Fisheries Cooperation Committee, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
At this year's joint committee meeting held earlier this month, both sides agreed to toughen the regulation and permanently ban boats caught fishing illegally from their exclusive waters.
Such a move will likely be implemented in 2014 after in-depth discussions by the joint committee next year, ministry officials said.
In addition, the countries will also seek to introduce a check-point system where all fishing boats entering and exiting the other country's EEZ will be checked for the amount of fish they are allowed to catch and the amount they actually caught.
The changes come amid heightened concerns about illegal fishing following an incident earlier this week where a 44-year-old Chinese fisherman died after being shot with a rubber bullet in a raid by South Korea's Coast Guard.
Every year, hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese fishing boats illegally enter South Korean waters to fish, with the number of Chinese boats cited for illegal fishing in South Korean waters since 2001 coming to over 4,600.
The crew members of Chinese boats that are caught fishing illegally often resort to violence to avoid being fined or having their catch confiscated, which is also what happened in the recent raid that led to the death of the Chinese fisherman. (Yonhap News)
