Japan, Taiwan to set up tuna fishing zones under different rules

Taipei, Jan. 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan and Taiwan agreed Friday to establish fishery zones where rules of the eather side will be applied during the bluefin tuna fishing season between April and July. 　The zones will be set up within the so-called special cooperation zone off the island of Kume in Okinawa Prefecture and in waters north of the Yaeyama Islands, also in the southern prefecture. 　 Under the agreement, made at the third round of Japan-Taiwan fishery talks in Taipei, the zone off Kume Island will be split evenly into two, with the northern half under Japanese rules requiring each fishing boat to operate at least 4 nautical miles from others and the southern half under Taiwanese rules calling for a one-nautical-mile distance between boats. 　 In the zone near the Yaeyamas, Taiwanese boats will be required to follow the Japanese rules if Japanese boats give them a prior operation notice. 　 The two sides have yet to decide what to do with the zones after the tuna fishing season, officials said. 　 Since a bilateral fishery pact came into force in May last year, Taiwanese fishing boats have been allowed to operate in designated areas within Japan's exclusive economic zone near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa. 　 Japanese fishers, for their part, have been refraining from catching fishes in the same areas for fears of trouble with their Taiwanese peers, such as trawler net tangling, in the absence of clear fishing rules there. END