The Japan Coast Guard and the Fisheries Agency agreed Tuesday to step up cooperation to combat unauthorized foreign fishing in Japan's exclusive economic zone, officials said.
Of the 20 foreign fishing boats captured in Japan's waters so far this year, 14 were from South Korea, compared with 19 South Korean boats seized all of last year, the Fisheries Agency said.
The two entities held a meeting Tuesday attended by their chiefs, Hiroki Ishikawa for the coast guard and Fumio Tahara for the Fisheries Agency.
The Fisheries Agency has been patrolling with 35 patrol vessels but they are lightly armed -- basically boasting only water guns and balls to color-mark culprits to help in pursuit.
The agency, however, has detailed information on when and where unauthorized fishing is conducted, so it would be helpful if the two governmental bodies step up cooperation, the officials said.
The meeting was held as the agency considers unauthorized fishing practices that have grown more serious and sophisticated, particularly since a South Korean fishing boat fled with coast guard officers aboard during an inspection in June near Tsushima Island off Nagasaki Prefecture.
Many of the South Korean boats were found to have been engaged in conger fishing using cylindrical traps to be sunk, a method banned for South Korean boats in the area under a bilateral pact, according to the agency.
Such South Korean boats conducting unauthorized fishing have been found not only in waters near Kyushu but also in waters off Chiba and Miyagi prefectures, it said.