3 detained Sri Lankan boats caught sharks: MNDF
The fishing boats are currently being brought to the capital under the supervision of coast guard ship Ghazee.
MNDF revealed on Sunday that three Sri Lankan fishing boats seized by the Maldivian coastguard while illegally fishing in the Maldives' territorial waters have been found to have caught a large quantity of shark.
Shark fishing is banned in the country.
On Saturday, MNDF revealed that three Sri Lankan fishing boats were brought under the custody of the coastguard ship Ghazee for entering the Maldives' territorial waters without obtaining permission. At the time, MNDF did not disclose any further details.
MNDF said in a message to the media on Sunday:
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Two of the three boats were taken over by the Coast Guard on 30 November; a boat named 'Banuzan' and a boat called 'Rathu 01'
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Each of the two boats had six Sri Lankan crew members on board
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The third boat was taken into custody by the Coast Guard on 1 December; it was a fishing boat named 'Lakhpaviya Denethu'
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The boats had caught a large quantity of shark; in addition to some other species of fish
The fishing boats are currently being brought to the capital under the supervision of coast guard ship Ghazee. MNDF expects the boats to reach Dhoonidhoo at 1am early Monday morning.
Recently, the regulations have been amended to allow illegal foreign fishing vessels to be fined up to MVR 40 million for entering the country's territorial waters without prior permission. Thus:
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Entering the country's territorial waters without obtaining prior permission - MVR 100,000
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Doing or attempting to do fishing which is prohibited by the law of the land – between MVR 2 million and MVR 40 million
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Fishing without a licence – from MVR 500,000 up to MVR 8 million
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Transfer of fish from one vessel to another without permission - from MVR 600,000 up to MVR 10 million
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Capturing, killing or damaging a banned animal from the Maldivian waters – MVR 100,000
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Release of any equipment used for trawling or indiscriminate fishing - MVR 100,000
