Emergency on import and distribution of female crabs from Hokkaido, Japan

Recently, when you search for ‘female crab’ on popular domestic portal sites such as Naver or Daum, you will find several online shopping malls selling female crabs from Hokkaido, Japan. These online shopping malls sell live female crabs for 30,000 to 38,000 won per 1kg (4 to 6 crabs), and they emphasize that female crab fishing and distribution are possible in Japan and that they are legally imported and sold. The problem is that as these Japanese female crabs are distributed in large quantities in Korea, they are threatening the livelihoods of crab fishermen on the East Sea, and an emergency has been declared for the protection of fishery resources. This is because crabs illegally caught in Korea can be disguised as imported crabs and distributed. In Korea, according to the Fisheries Resources Management Act, the capture and distribution of crabs less than 9cm in length and female crabs is prohibited year-round. Accordingly, Gyeongbuk Province held an emergency meeting at the ...