Philippines Detains 25 Chinese, 18 Vietnamese Fishermen For Poaching

Philippines Detains 25 Chinese, 18 Vietnamese Fishermen For Suspected Poaching

The Philippines recently detained two Chinese and three Vietnamese fishing vessels having more than three dozens of crew members in the north of the country with the anti-poaching patrols.

Philippines detains chinese vietnamese poaching

According to a report on The Nation, the fishermen were arrested in the tiny islands away from the mainland of Luzon while being in the heating dispute between China and the Philippines.

The report says that the two Chinese fishing boats which were flying an inverted Philippine flag were detained together with their 25 crew members off the island of Sabtang last Monday.

“The presumption in these types of cases is that they are here to commit illegal fishing,” said Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director James Asis Perez as quoted in the report.

The vessels were then accompanied to the port of Basco then the crews were held on board as the investigators are waiting for interpreters, this is according to the coast guard officer Mark Jun Rubio.

According to Perez, the government agency together with the coast guard also arrested 18 Vietnamese fishermen on three fishing boats who were illegally fishing in the Philippine waters.

He added that Philippine authorities have already asked state prosecutors to file charges of illegal fishing to the arrested Vietnamese who were detained last week from the Calayan Island, south of Sabtang.

Under the Philippine law, poaching is fined up to $1 million.

But, there are still no charges filed against the Chinese fishermen.

Currently, the Philippines, together with Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and Vietnam were in dispute with China over its claims over the most of the South China Sea.

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