The number of Chinese vessels fishing illegally in South Korean waters near the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea this year has sharply declined.
 
The Korea Coast Guard under the Ministry of Public Safety and Security announced on Tuesday that 112 Chinese ships on average fished daily in waters near the inter-Korean maritime border between April first and 15th, or down 47 percent compared to the same period last year.
 
The Coast Guard attributed the sharp drop in such ships to tighter monitoring of and crackdown on such vessels.
 
A special unit tasked with cracking down on illegal Chinese fishing operations in the Yellow Sea seized five Chinese fishing vessels and expelled 38 ships between April fourth when it launched operations and April 15th.