Russian fishermen smuggling most crabs into Japan

Nearly 80% of all crabs being caught in Russian waters are sold to Japan, reads a report, which was delivered by Hokkaido-university professor Nobuo Arai in Sapporo, Japan, today at a symposium dealing with Siberia and the Far East in the 21-st century.

These conclusions are based on Japanese statistical records for the 1998-2001 period. For instance, Japan had imported some $1.8 billion worth of seafood throughout that time period. Meanwhile Russian statistics estimate such seafood exports at $280 million.

According to Arai, this tremendous gap highlights real-life poacher-trade volumes that account for 73.7% of all seafood sales and purchases on Japanese territory.

Japan had received $559 million worth of crabs over that same four-year period, with Russia exporting crabs to the tune of $109 million.

Arai's report states expressly that Russian fishermen started catching much more crabs throughout the 1990s than ever before; however, few crabs are sold on the Russian market.