Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation against a Japanese captain on charges of poaching and confiscated all fish from his boat.

Masuo Takagawa, the captain of Tomi Maru No. 53, has been accused of violation of fishing rules and his boat — currently anchored at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky harbor — has been seized.

The Russian officials, who inspected the boat that was detained last week off the Kamchatka Peninsula along with two other fishing vessels, have confiscated more than 40 tons of fish from the boat that they said was caught illegally in a Russian economic zone, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Authorities haven’t been able to unload fish from two other Japanese boats, Gyokuryu Maru and Yokei Maru, because of bad weather. The crews of the three vessels were ordered to remain on board the ships pending the inquiry, RIA Novosti said.

Russian authorities have stepped up patrols in and around disputed waters between the two countries. Earlier this year, a Russian border patrol fired on a Japanese fishing boat in the disputed waters, killing a fisherman before seizing the vessel and the remaining three crew.

The boat’s captain was returned to Japan last month after being fined for illegal entry into Russian territory and poaching. Tokyo protested Russia’s response as too extreme, and demanded punishment for the officials responsible.

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