Russians Fire On Japanese Fishing Boats

[Mulboyne]

AFP: Russian border guards fire at Japanese fishing boats
Russian border guards shot at two Japanese fishing boats which had strayed into its waters off the disputed South Kuril islands, a Russian statement said Saturday. Border guards in a helicopter fired warning shots Friday and then directly at the boats when they failed to stop, the statement said. "Since all methods to stop the ships had been tried unsuccessfully, we fired for effect," the border guards from the far eastern Sakhalin region said, adding that none of the crew members were injured. The Japanese ships then turned back and docked at the port of Rausu, they said. Russian television showed footage of the two ships filmed from a helicopter. The Japanese fishermen returned safely and they later found dozens of bullet holes in the boats, Jiji Press said. Another Japanese report said the Russians fired a flare bomb before shooting at the boats. The border guards said the ships were close to Kunashir island, the southernmost in the chain, which is controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan.

They obviously hadn't heard about Hatoyama's grandson.

[Kagetsu]

All those fucking dolphins and whales... the Japanese are misunderstood.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Fired on Japanese fishing vessels may have intentionally trespassed into Russian waters

Two fishing vessels that were fired upon by a Russian border patrol last month may have intentionally trespassed into Russian waters, a Japan Coast Guard investigation has found. The No. 58 Takamaru and the No. 63 Kiyomimaru were fishing off Kunashir Island, part of the disputed Kuril Island chain, on Jan. 29, when they were shot at by a Russian border patrol helicopter. Russian authorities say they were illegally fishing in Russian waters. Investigators have found that the vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on both trawlers, which monitor a ship's position and relays it to a station back on land, were disabled for at least four hours. Investigators believe that the crews may have turned them off on purpose. Records show that on the day of the shooting, VMS updates were received every half hour until some time after 8 a.m. However, there were no position updates between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The crews have apparently pulled the same trick several times before -- since the vessels began operating on Jan. 8, the vessels were untraceable for over two hours on 10 days. "It's too artificial. There's a chance they could be habitually turning it off and operating outside the permitted areas," says an investigation insider. The VMS was first introduced in October 2009, after Russian authorities captured a Japanese vessel for the second time, in order to ensure fishermen only work in permitted areas.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Captains of 2 Japanese trawlers fired upon by Russian patrol arrested

The captains of two Japanese trawlers who were fired upon by a Russian border patrol last month were arrested by the Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday. Takayuki Hirafuji, 48, and Kiyomi Kojima, 50, were arrested for breaking local fishing industry regulations. The pair deliberately turned off their vessel monitoring systems (VMS) while fishing off Kunashir Island, part of the disputed Kuril Island chain, on Jan. 29, it's alleged. Prefectural regulations state that a ship's VMS must stay on while it is out of port. The two captains claimed that a Russian patrol helicopter fired a flare at them while they were out fishing on the day in question. It was subsequently discovered that the helicopter fired shots at the two vessels. Russian authorities say they were trespassing in Russian waters, and the Japan Coast Guard is continuing to investigate.

[Greji]

Mainichi: Captains of 2 Japanese trawlers fired upon by Russian patrol arrested

The Japanese fishing boats have been doing this for years as we've had mentioned in some other threads about this. It was more, or less, considered okay to do that during the days of the old Soviet, as they were the enemy and running the "Rep-sens" into their waters to poach fish was felt just to be part of the cold war since Japan once owned the northern islands and a good part of Sakalin. The J-authorities just looked the other way in those days. However, those old habits die hard now that it is officially illegal.