Japan Likely Imports Fish Chinese Ships Banned For Illegal Acts

Seafood entering Japanese markets potentially includes catches by Chinese fishing vessels that routinely engage in illegal fishing practices and human rights abuses against their workers, according to a recent investigation by a British environmental group and interviews by Kyodo News.

Photo Insert: Shark's fin

Between 2017 and 2020, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) interviewed and obtained photos from around 70 Indonesian fishermen who previously worked onboard 19 Chinese tuna fishing vessels operating in the western Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, the news agency reported.

These vessels appeared to trans-ship with Japan-bound refrigerated cargo vessels, known as reefers, some of which were found to be operated by a subsidiary of major Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp.

Based on analysis of satellite vessel tracking and testimonies from Indonesian crew members, the EJF concluded that tuna and swordfish had been transferred from Chinese fishing vessels to around 10 Japanese reefers bound for Shimizu port in Shizuoka Prefecture among others.

Some crew members testified that they had transferred tuna to a reefer flying the Japanese flag. A spokesperson for Mitsubishi told Kyodo News that it was not aware of any of its reefers conducting illegal fishing or abusing human rights, saying it regularly checks for such violations and would investigate further if any problems are found.

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