Russian fishing ships seen off Fukushima reflects Moscow’s ‘hypocrisy’ over Japanese seafood ban

The presence of the three ships close to Japan’s coast is Moscow’s ‘signal’ to Tokyo to withdraw support for sanctions against Russia, analysts say

The ships have also been detected in waters off the disputed Russian-occupied Kuril Islands, a part of which is claimed by Japan

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A Japanese sushi chef displays freshly cut bluefin tuna. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00pm, 27 Jan 2024

Russian trawlers have been detected operating just a few kilometres off the coast from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan, underlining the “hypocrisy” of Moscow’s ban on seafood imports from Japan, according to analysts.

They said that Russian fishermen catching fish off Fukushima to sell to their country’s consumers suggest that either the vessel operators know that treated water discharged from the nuclear plant does not pose a danger, or they just do not care about Moscow’s claim of food safety issues over fish caught in the area.

The analysts also said Russian ships operating so close to the Japanese coast is a calculated “signal” to the Japanese government and another attempt to pressure Tokyo to withdraw its support for sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The Sankei newspaper reported on Wednesday that at least three Russian trawlers had been tracked operating off northeast Japan on January 14, getting within 32km from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by the magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011.

The Japan coastguard has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to shadow the ships and shared the data with the Japanese Fisheries Agency.

The ships did not enter Japanese territorial waters, which extend 22km from the coast at the low-water mark, and were operating legitimately within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which extends out 200 nautical miles (370.4km) from the coast.