Okinawa Governor requests reviews of fisheries agreements in order to ensure safe environment near Senkaku Islands
Senkaku Islands (archival photograph)
October 8, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo
On October 7, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, Okinawa Fisheries Cooperative Association President Kameichi Uehara, and Okinawa Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative Presidents’ Association President Takao Yamanoha had interviews with Chief Cabinet Secretary Katunobu Kato and others, and appealed for reviews of the Japan-Taiwan Fisheries Agreement and Sino-Japan Fisheries Agreement. Since May, there have been successive occasions on which official Chinese vessels were seen following fishing boats in the ocean area surrounding the Senkaku Islands, and in response to this Governor Tamaki and the others also requested a guarantee of preventative measures and safety operations from relevant govenment agencies.
They had successive interviews with Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kotaro Nogami, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi, where they appealed for improvement to the fishing environment in the ocean area surrounding the Senkaku Islands. When meeting with Agriculture Minister Nogami, they asked that he work toward expanding the restrictions on fishing Pacific bluefin tuna.
Governor Tamaki clarified “[People] have reported feeling a sense of impending danger and strong misgivings about security operations in the ocean area surrounding the Senkaku Islands”. Governor Tamaki touched on the accident in September 2010, when a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat collided with an official Chinese boat in the waters off the Senkaku Islands, which marked a turning point that has affected the ten years hence, and said “I have strongly requested reviews of the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement and the Sino-Japanese Fisheries Agreement” as a measure for ensuring the safety of persons involved in the fishing industry.
Association President Uehara stated, “I want there to be arrangements made, including diplomatic efforts, so that there will no longer be manuevers and conduct that interfere [with the fishing industry], I plead and wish for such an environment to be created”.
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
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