Russia seizes 4 Japanese fishing boats

Japan said Thursday that Russia seized four Japanese fishing boats in disputed waters between the two countries, calling the detention unacceptable and demanding an explanation from Moscow.

The boats were captured by the Russian border guard in the early hours off Kunashiri Island, one of four islands claimed by both countries, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the Russian guard acknowledged it had taken the boats off the northern coast of Kunashiri but the exact location or activity of the boats at the time of their capture was not immediately known.

Russia seized the island chain, which it calls the Kurils, from Japan in the closing days of World War II. The dispute has kept the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty despite ongoing efforts by leaders from both sides to settle the territorial issue.

A bilateral fisheries accord allows only registered vessels to operate in the disputed waters. All 28 Japanese boats registered for the season`s Okhotsk mackerel and octopus fishing were back in their ports Thursday, Fisheries Agency official Shingo Kurohagi said, indicating the seized boats might not have been covered by the pact.

Akira Muto, chief of the Foreing Ministry`s Russia section, called the incident "unacceptable," citing Japan`s territorial claims over the islands and their surrounding waters. Muto also demanded Russian officials provide further details.

Russian Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.

Russia`s ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Yevgeny Lazarev, spokesman for the Sakhalin regional office of the border guard service, as saying all four boats were seen violating the territorial limit. The trawlers were being taken to Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Kunashiri Island, which Russia spells Kunashir, Lazarev was quoted as saying.

Public broadcaster NHK said the boats and their 11 crew members, who were unharmed, had been taken to nearby Shikotan Island, also part of the disputed island group, known as the Northern Territories in Japan. The boats were based in Rausu on the eastern coast of Japan`s main northern island of Hokkaido, it said.

Russian authorities have frequently seized Japanese boats in recent months as they have stepped up patrols in and around the area.

Last August Russian patrol boats fatally shot a Japanese fisherman and seized a vessel in the disputed northern waters, escalating tensions between the two nations.

sections: Accidents, World News, Region News
regions: Far East region