The guards detected the Winner-2 vessel in the exclusive Russian economic zone to the south-east of the Shikotan Island.
An inspection, after the ship tried to escape, revealed some 16 tons of live sea urchins inside 330 boxes. The captain of the ship failed to provide any permission documents.
The illegal catch of sea urchins, worth $375,000, was released back into the sea. The ship and its crew were detained at Yuzhno-Kurilsk’s port.
