Poacher-vessel confiscated

The court of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the center of the Kamchatka Region, Russia's easternmost area) has ruled to confiscate the Juhua-v fishing vessel including the aboard equipment and communication facilities and to have the captain pay the fine of 200.000 roubles (about 6,500 US dollars). The vessel belongs to the commercial organization "Concordia Seafood Canada Inc" registered in Panama. It was detained on December 2nd, 2001, in the Russian territorial waters near Kamchatka. The vessel was chased for 45.5 hours. The captain disregarded the demand to stop to let the inspectors of the Kamchatka State Maritime Inspection check the vessel. Nothing was gained by threatening to use weapons. The vessel only sped up to sail out of the territorial waters. After several preventive shots the vessel stopped. No documents authorizing the presence in Russian territorial waters were provided. While checking the vessel, the inspectors spotted crabs' claws that the poachers had not had time to throw away.