TAIZHOU: Fishers in Zhejiang Province, eastern China, are preparing to start fishing operations in the East China Sea, including waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, as the closed season is ending this month.

To many fishers, operations in waters near the islands, claimed by China and called Diaoyu in the country, are not very profitable because it takes two days to reach the waters from Chinese ports.

But they will head for the waters if instructed by Chinese authorities.

The islands are part of China, claimed the captain of a fishing boat at the port of Shipu in Xiangshan, close to Taizhou, both in the coastal province of Zhejiang.

Handing the islands over to Japan is intolerable, the captain said, following the official line.

But the captain added that few local fishers are willing to go because fuel costs would be heavy.

China is set to lift its seasonal ban on fishing in the East China Sea on August 16. Large ships must wait one more month until September 16.

It is difficult to generate profits from fishing operations near the Senkaku Islands unless large ships are used. In addition, fish catches in waters near the Chinese coast are recovering, reducing the need to go far away to fish.

In August four years ago, Chinese fishing boats entered Japanese territorial waters one after another, sparking off a diplomatic problem between Japan and China.

The best fishing period in waters near the islands is around October, the captain said, adding that many boats went fishing there in August that year because of instructions from authorities.

When to start fishing there this year will also depend on the opinion of the authorities, the captain said.

According to fishers and other people, there used to be few Chinese fishing boats that operated in waters near the Senkaku Islands.

In recent years, vessels that go fishing there increased as ship performance improved.

As the number increased and the two countries’ spat over the Senkaku Islands intensified, Japan began to heavily patrol waters near the chain, they said.

At the port of Shitang in Wenling, part of Taizhou, a crew member in his 50s said he went fishing near the island chain many times during his 20-year career at sea. 

He did not experience crackdowns by Japanese patrol ships in the past. But recently they issue warnings, seize goods and collide with other ships, the crew member said, adding that he feels scared.

Chinese patrol vessels do not come to rescue Chinese fishers, according to the member. He predicted that the islands would be taken by the stronger of the two countries.

A former captain of a fishing boat in his 70s said he did not go near the islands very much because his ship’s performance was not strong and fish catches in nearby waters were large enough.

He said it does not appear to him that the islands are part of China. An elderly person who had chatted with the former captain nodded in agreement, saying the issue has nothing to do with them.

JIJI Press