S. Korea, Russia sign pact to control illegal fishing

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, comments from para 4)
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to
control illegal fishing and related transactions starting in the new year, the
Seoul government said.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the illegal,
unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities agreement calls for South
Korea to provide information on Russian fishermen operating in Russia's exclusive
economic zones (EEZs) without permission.
Because these fishermen cannot sell their hauls in Russia, they frequently send
the fish, along with king crabs, to South Korean ports, making it hard for
Russian authorities to clamp down on such activities.
"Of the three Northeast Asian countries South Korea is the first to sign the IUU
agreement with Russia," Vice Minister Ha Young-je told a press conference. He
said Moscow wanted the agreement in order to persuade Tokyo and Beijing to sign
similar pacts.
The pact is expected to go into effect in June 2010 following an administrative
process and consultation with lawmakers by both governments.
There are no clear statistics, but experts say that fisherman may have begun
selling illegally caught fish and crabs here as early as 1999.
Ha said that while there may be a slight hike in consumer prices for king crabs,
Seoul wanted to respect worldwide efforts to deal with illegal fishing that can
deplete fisheries stocks.
The official pointed out that the agreement is the result of talks held between
the presidents of the two countries in September.
The vice minister said that while the IUU agreement is not directly linked to
winning meaningful fishing quotas in the Russian EEZ, South Korea planned to ask
Moscow for favorable conditions in future talks.
South Korea catches most of its pollack in Russian waters.
Russia has already pledged to raise South Korea's pollack fishing quota in its
waters by nearly two-fold this year to 39,000 tons.
"We want to raise the quota to at least 40,000 tons and if conditions permit to
45,000 tons," Ha said, adding that Seoul wanted to win a separate 1,000 ton quota
for blowfish that are not consumed in Russia.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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