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A boat (bottom), suspected to be a Chinese coral fishing boat, is seen near Japanese coast guard ship in Japanese territory late last year. Photo: Reuters

Japan sentences Chinese fishing boat captain to prison for poaching coral off Tokyo coast

AFP

A Japanese court today jailed a Chinese skipper for coral poaching in what was reportedly the first such punishment since the coastguard began reporting waves of illegal boats.

Fang Dongbing, 46, was sentenced to a year in prison and fined 10 million yen (HK$633,000) after being found guilty of illegally harvesting coral in waters near the Izu island chain, some 600 kilometres south of Tokyo, in December.

He was the first person to be given a prison sentence since the Japanese coastguard began spotting flocks of Chinese vessels believed to be engaged in coral poaching in September near the Ogasawara and Izu islands, according to the Justice Ministry. The number of such vessels totalled more than 200 at its peak last year.

He is also the first foreign national to be given a sentence after Japan toughened a law on illegal fishing by foreigners in its territorial waters.

Prosecutors had sought 18 months in prison and a 15 million yen fine, after Japan revised its laws on illegal fishing, tripling the maximum fine for poaching to 30 million yen last year.

“The defendant’s attitude of belittling the rule of law cannot be tolerated,” said Yokohama District Court presiding judge Ben Adachi, the reported.

Adachi said giving a prison term was “unavoidable” to prevent future crimes and given the spirit of the legal amendment.

Fang conspired with crew member Zhang Youyin, 45, and poached off the uninhabited Torishima Island about 580 kilometres south of Tokyo on December 21, according to the indictment sheet.

Zhang is being tried separately over the case.

Coral is popular in parts of Asia for use as ornaments and for jewellery.

Official vessels tend to chase the poachers away from the uncontested area, and the incidents rarely cause major friction between Tokyo and Beijing, although the two sides remain at loggerheads over ownership of an island chain in the East China Sea.

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