Group caught illegally harvesting, distributing 825 kg of blue crab during closed season off West Sea

A group has been caught illegally catching and distributing blue crabs off the West Sea coast in violation of the closed fishing season.

A joint crackdown by the coast guard and the Army netted a group that had illegally caught more than 800 kilograms of blue crabs off the coast of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and was attempting to distribute them covertly, according to Yonhap.

The Gunsan Maritime Police Station said it had apprehended three suspects — identified only as A, a fishing boat captain in his 40s, and B, a refrigerated truck driver in his 50s, along with a third person — on charges including violation of the Fisheries Resource Management Act. All three are under investigation.

The suspects are accused of illegally catching 55 nets' worth of blue crabs — totaling 825 kilograms — at around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in waters near Maldo and Gwallido in Okdo-myeon, Gunsan, during the closed season.

Coast guard officers had spotted two vessels whose tracks were not appearing on the V-PASS (vessel position reporting system) monitoring system.

Suspecting the vessels of illegal fishing and other criminal activity, the coast guard requested tracking assistance from the Army's 11th Coastal Surveillance Mobile Battalion.

With real-time surveillance support from the Army, the coast guard confirmed the vessels were entering Yamido Port and intercepted them, shutting down the illegal fishing operation.

The blue crabs A and the others had illegally caught were immediately released back into the sea.

A Gunsan Maritime Police official urged the public to comply with the closed season rules. "The West Sea blue crab closed season runs through Aug. 20, during which not only catching but also possessing, distributing, processing, storing and selling blue crabs are strictly prohibited," the official said. "We ask for your voluntary cooperation in observing the closed season to protect our precious fishery resources."