South Korea called on China on Thursday to take "strong and effective" measures to clamp down on Chinese fishermen's suspected illegal fishing in the waters off South Korea's west coast, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
  

South Korea made the request during a meeting with China in Shanghai. The two also exchanged views on how to cooperate better in the fishery field, the foreign ministry said.
  

One of the major topics of the talks was Seoul's consistent concerns about Chinese fishermen's illegal fishing in waters near the tense inter-Korean maritime border off the west coast, it added.
   
Chinese fishermen's illegal fishing has been a source of diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing as South Korea's own efforts to curb such illegal activities have often led to violent clashes. The illegal fishing has also posed a huge threat to Korea's fishery sector.
  
"The Seoul government has requested that China take strong and effective steps to root out such illegal fishing at the both central and provincial government levels," the ministry said in a statement.
  

In response, China said that it has instructed its provincial governments to increase surveillance over such illegal activities, vowing to take further aggressive countermeasures with greater attention, it added.
  

Separate data from Korea's maritime ministry showed that more than 2,000 Chinese fishing boats are believed to operate illegally in the shared fishing zones while up to 300 Chinese ships poach South Korea's territorial waters on a daily basis during catching seasons. In 2012 alone, 467 Chinese fishing boats were seized while fishing illegally in South Korean waters.
   
Raids have sometimes ended in tragedy due to violent resistance by the suspected fishermen. In 2011, a South Korean coast guard officer was killed by Chinese fishermen during a raid in South Korean waters. In October, the captain of a Chinese fishing boat was shot dead during a similar raid.
  
Seoul and Beijing launched their first joint crackdown on illegal fishing in their shared waters last week with plans to seek joint action at least two or three times next year. (Yonhap)