Japan imposes heavy penalties on Chinese fishing vessels for illegal fishing.

Japan released a team of Chinese fishermen on December 31st after they accepted a fine of nearly $50,000 for illegal fishing.

In the presence of Chinese consular staff in Japan, Captain Lin Shiqin and all the other fishermen involved in the incident were released at around 6 PM (local time) and boarded a boat, leaving the waters near Kagoshima Prefecture at 7:25 PM to return to China.

Previously, these individuals, along with their vessel, were apprehended by the Japanese Coast Guard off the coast of Kagoshima city in southern Japan on the night of December 29th.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Beijing had sent diplomatic representatives to the Japanese detention facility in Kagoshima to help resolve the incident peacefully.

A Chinese fishing boat was seized by the Japanese coast guard (photo: Reuters).

With a guarantee from the Chinese Consul General in Japan, Captain Lin Shiqin will have to pay the aforementioned fine within 30 days.

Captain Lam's fishing vessel is registered in Fujian Province, China. He admitted to entering Japanese territorial waters but denied the accusation of illegal coral harvesting.

However, the Japanese coast guard discovered 1.5 kg of coral on board the ship.

These Chinese fishermen admitted their guilt and promised to pay the fine for illegally harvesting coral in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Chinese fishing vessels often venture far out of the waters east of mainland China because fish stocks in that area have been depleted.

The seizure of the Chinese fishing vessel occurred just months after tensions between China and Japan over the sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands escalated sharply.

On the same day the fishermen were released, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) of China announced it would deploy three more maritime surveillance vessels to patrol the waters around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

On December 28, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun affirmed to reporters that China “will not cause trouble, but certainly is not afraid of any trouble” related to the aforementioned islands.

Also in December 2012, China twice sent aircraft to intrude into the airspace over the aforementioned islands and sea area.

According to VOV - DT