Japan meets fishing boat crew, Russia launches probe+

MOSCOW, Jan. 29 Kyodo - An official of the Japanese Consulate General in Vladivostok on Thursday met with a crew member of a Japanese crab-fishing boat seized by Russia in the Sea
of Japan on Tuesday, consulate officials said.

The crew member, Nobuhiro Funakoshi, the 64-year-old chief fisherman of the
Yoshi Maru No. 38, said all 10 crew members are healthy during the hour-long
meeting at a facility near Nakhodka port, they said.
Russia's border guard service said Thursday it has launched an investigation
into the case of the 122-ton boat, which arrived at Nakhodka port in Russia's
Far East on Wednesday, on suspicion of fishing in Russia's exclusive economic
zone without authorization from Russia.
Investigators will question the ship's crew and check the marine catches on
board the ship, they said.
Skipper Masafumi Ando has declared that his boat carries more than 300 cases of
frozen crab, they said.
The Yoshi Maru No. 38, owned by the Hiyoshi Suisan fishery firm based in
Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, was seized in the Sea of Japan some 480
kilometers north of the city Tuesday, according to the Tottori prefectural
government.
Hiyoshi Suisan says the crew became aware that their vessel had drifted and was
swept into the Russian exclusive economic zone after completing its fishing
operations Tuesday.
Russian border guard officials found the boat when it was trying to return to
the Japanese exclusive economic zone, according to Hiyoshi Suisan.
The Japanese government has sought an early release of the crew members and the
ship.
==Kyodo