Sunday’s Okinawa Times gave top coverage to a report alleging that people connected to the U.S. military are involved in poaching in waters off Okinawa, highlighting a case in which Japan Coast Guard officers questioned two people for using an underwater gun off Higashi Village on July 10. The paper wrote that one of the two individuals belongs to Camp Foster and told the Coast Guard officers that he speared fish there with an underwater gun because he did not know using an underwater gun in the area was prohibited for people other than professional fishermen. According to a local fisherman, he saw the two fishing in the area in January. The paper also wrote that on a private Facebook page called Spearfishing Okinawa that has about 1,600 members apparently including U.S. Marines and civilian base workers, information is exchanged about the locations where the Coast Guard and local fishermen patrol. The paper wrote that the U.S. military has not responded to its inquiry about whether it is aware of its personnel’s involvement in poaching and simply told the paper that it will cooperate with the Japan Coast Guard’s investigation into the alleged poaching incident on July 10.