# Russia detains S.Korean trawler



## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

From the Vanguard Tribune - 

_Russia's coast guard detained a South Korean fishing trawler with 31 people aboard after firing warning shots Thursday, alleging that it was poaching in Russian waters, news agencies reported.

The trawler was one of four that were sighted in Russia's economic zone near Russian-held islands northeast of Japan and scattered when a coast guard boat approached, ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti reported, citing regional officials of the coast guard, a branch of the Federal Security Service.

Its crew ignored radio messages, flares and other signals but stopped moving after the Russian boat fired warning shots, the reports quoted officials as saying. The shots did not hit the trawler, and nobody aboard was injured, they said.

Parts of freshly caught fish were found on the trawler, which was taken to the settlement of Malokurilsk on Shikotan, one of the disputed islands that Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories, for further investigation into the incident, the reports said.

The trawler is owned by a South Korean company and registered in the South Korean port of Busan, according to the reports. They cited coast guard officials as saying that the crew included 10 South Korean citizens, 10 Indonesian citizens, eight Vietnamese and three Chinese.

Russia says foreign-registered boats often poach in fish-rich waters off its eastern coast.

Last month, a Japanese fisherman was killed when the Russian coast guard fired what it said were warning shots at a boat in the area. The Japanese boat's captain is being tried in Russia on charges of poaching and illegal border crossing._

Rushie


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