South Korea: Fishermen urged to immediately stop importing female crabs from Japan

On November 25, the East Coast Headquarters of the Korea Coastal Fisheries Association held a large-scale rally in front of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, calling for the withdrawal of the import permit for Japanese female crabs (aka bread crabs). The reason the organization, which includes crab fishermen on the East Coast of Gyeongbuk, held the rally is because, as Japanese female crabs have been distributed in large quantities in the domestic market recently, there is a high possibility that female crabs will be caught domestically and then mixed and sold, or domestic female crabs will be disguised as Japanese and distributed and sold. According to the Fisheries Resources Management Act, female crabs and crabs less than 9 cm in length cannot be caught, distributed, or sold in Korea. It has been reported that Japanese female crabs distributed in the domestic market are treated as ‘food’ under the ‘Special Act on ...