December 27, 2007
By Alexei Aronov
The Izvestia (Russia)
“By Russian laws, I must unload the cargo in my native country. However, there I will earn a dollar per kilogram at most, while here in Japan the profit is five dollars. That is why I take my ship here,” shares Sasha, a Russian captain sitting and drinking beer in a bar in the Japanese port of Wakkanai. He does not have to watch his money in the bar – yesterday, his vessel delivered a cargo of crab.
The calculations are not complicated. For an average catch of 20 metric tons, Sasha receives $100,000. Half of this sum goes to the ship owner, and the other half is shared by the crew. Besides, Sasha always keeps some $50,000 in case the vessel is stopped by frontier patrol guards. The sum is enough to guarantee that the poaching ship and the catch remain safe and sound.
“There is another way to come off clear,” Sasha shares. With the Russian laws permitting exporting frozen crab, the freshly caught crab is ‘turned into’ frozen fresh catch by removing the water from the hold and putting in ice instead.
Sasha’s vessel, as do most poacher vessels in the Russian Far East, sails under the Cambodian flag, while its crew consists of residents of Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
“The patrol guards cannot confiscate the frozen crab cargo from my vessel, since by Cambodian laws we do not have to possess Russian documents for this cargo,” Sasha notes with a laugh.
Wakkanai port’s whole economy is totally dependant on Russian crabs, which are even turned into kind of cult. Each house has a vivid crab picture on it, the biggest one adorning the fish market building where most city residents purchase the crabs. A small horsehair crab, or kegani, costs $20, while a big Kamchatka crab will cost at least $100. The market’s variety of sea products sold can satisfy different tastes and budgets ranging from various fish species to octopuses and scallop.
“You can buy sea catch cheaper only from the fishermen, but there is a chance they can sell you rotten products, while I sell only fresh products,” a Japanese at the market tries to sell me a big Kamchatka crab promising ‘a very high discount’.
By ‘fishermen’, the seller means the Japanese who catch crab in Japan’s territorial waters. The catches are scarce due to the fishermen having exploited the resources to the full – that is why they take the catch from Russian ships and give the poached catch out to be legal. This results in Russian crab cargoes going directly to the ports of Japan, with its catch volumes far exceeding the permitted quota.
“If the situation continues any longer there will be no crab sources left in the sea. It all will be caught,” laments Alexander Savelyev, head of Department for Public Relations in Russia’s Goskomrybolovstvo, or State Fisheries Committee.
To restore the crab population, the Russian government intends to introduce a temporary ban for crab catching in several zones in the Far East. The idea, however, instills fear into the Japanese, who can remember the times when a country’s port accepted at least ten Russian vessels almost daily. With exporting live crab prohibited in Russia last year, the number has been reduced to two ships.
“If Russia imposes the ban, our port can become desolate. To take such radical steps, it is necessary to consider the people in this business who will lose their jobs,” says Makoto Iida of Condor Trading, a crab catching company. According to him, many young people are leaving Wakkanai and soon there will be no one left to work.
However, according to the local Customs Office, during the first ten months of this year, a total of 9,000 tons of live crab worth of almost $50 million has been imported to the port of Wakkanai, with the importing volumes having grown by 70 percent since last year.
Today, the city has about ten crab processing companies operating, however the exact amount of crab processed in unknown. The company representatives refused to talk with a Russian reporter, even with the permission from the city authorities.
“These are private firms, and we are not do not have right to order them what to do, though we realize that their operations are not always legal,” says Koga Mitsuharu, the Wakkanai port’s official.
“Do you eat crab yourself?” I ask Mitsuharu.
“Yes, it is a very delicious product”, he answers smiling. The fact that he actually assists poachers in their illegal activities seems not to confuse him at all. Most Japanese, who like to enjoy eating the Russian delicacy, would not be embarrassed by it either.
The calculations are not complicated. For an average catch of 20 metric tons, Sasha receives $100,000. Half of this sum goes to the ship owner, and the other half is shared by the crew. Besides, Sasha always keeps some $50,000 in case the vessel is stopped by frontier patrol guards. The sum is enough to guarantee that the poaching ship and the catch remain safe and sound.
“There is another way to come off clear,” Sasha shares. With the Russian laws permitting exporting frozen crab, the freshly caught crab is ‘turned into’ frozen fresh catch by removing the water from the hold and putting in ice instead.
Sasha’s vessel, as do most poacher vessels in the Russian Far East, sails under the Cambodian flag, while its crew consists of residents of Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
“The patrol guards cannot confiscate the frozen crab cargo from my vessel, since by Cambodian laws we do not have to possess Russian documents for this cargo,” Sasha notes with a laugh.
Wakkanai port’s whole economy is totally dependant on Russian crabs, which are even turned into kind of cult. Each house has a vivid crab picture on it, the biggest one adorning the fish market building where most city residents purchase the crabs. A small horsehair crab, or kegani, costs $20, while a big Kamchatka crab will cost at least $100. The market’s variety of sea products sold can satisfy different tastes and budgets ranging from various fish species to octopuses and scallop.
“You can buy sea catch cheaper only from the fishermen, but there is a chance they can sell you rotten products, while I sell only fresh products,” a Japanese at the market tries to sell me a big Kamchatka crab promising ‘a very high discount’.
By ‘fishermen’, the seller means the Japanese who catch crab in Japan’s territorial waters. The catches are scarce due to the fishermen having exploited the resources to the full – that is why they take the catch from Russian ships and give the poached catch out to be legal. This results in Russian crab cargoes going directly to the ports of Japan, with its catch volumes far exceeding the permitted quota.
“If the situation continues any longer there will be no crab sources left in the sea. It all will be caught,” laments Alexander Savelyev, head of Department for Public Relations in Russia’s Goskomrybolovstvo, or State Fisheries Committee.
To restore the crab population, the Russian government intends to introduce a temporary ban for crab catching in several zones in the Far East. The idea, however, instills fear into the Japanese, who can remember the times when a country’s port accepted at least ten Russian vessels almost daily. With exporting live crab prohibited in Russia last year, the number has been reduced to two ships.
“If Russia imposes the ban, our port can become desolate. To take such radical steps, it is necessary to consider the people in this business who will lose their jobs,” says Makoto Iida of Condor Trading, a crab catching company. According to him, many young people are leaving Wakkanai and soon there will be no one left to work.
However, according to the local Customs Office, during the first ten months of this year, a total of 9,000 tons of live crab worth of almost $50 million has been imported to the port of Wakkanai, with the importing volumes having grown by 70 percent since last year.
Today, the city has about ten crab processing companies operating, however the exact amount of crab processed in unknown. The company representatives refused to talk with a Russian reporter, even with the permission from the city authorities.
“These are private firms, and we are not do not have right to order them what to do, though we realize that their operations are not always legal,” says Koga Mitsuharu, the Wakkanai port’s official.
“Do you eat crab yourself?” I ask Mitsuharu.
“Yes, it is a very delicious product”, he answers smiling. The fact that he actually assists poachers in their illegal activities seems not to confuse him at all. Most Japanese, who like to enjoy eating the Russian delicacy, would not be embarrassed by it either.
3 comments:
And How much does SOK An get? let ask him when he come to Long beach!
Corupt!Corupt!anybody whos do business illegally with cambodian gorvernment will soon laugh at the dumb! government.but those people they don't care about cambodian, people,so.. I don't care about them either.because cambodia-will never have peace for as long as we still have a country.we will have peace until everything is all vipe out!"ANANIKUM AMERICA RULES!"
Wow ! 5:37AM you so good< Ido not understand you!
Have A bad New Year!
Post a Comment