Lankan fishing boats seized off Srikakulam coast

Visakhapatnam: The Indian Coast Guard ship Vigraha patrolling in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday apprehended two Sri Lankan fishing boats along with 11 crew fishing in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and escorted them to Kakinada for further investigation on Saturday.

The Sri Lankan boats were seized about 175 nautical miles from Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam district as they were engaged in fishing in the Indian EEZ without valid licences and documents.

As per Maritime Zones India Act 1981, fishing and poaching by foreign vessels in Indian EEZ is an offence whereby the Sri Lankan fishing vessel violated the Act and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Joint investigations are being carried out by marine police, fisheries department, Customs and intelligence bureau at Kakinada.

The fishing boats and crew will be handed over to marine fisheries department and marine police respectively for further proceedings, a release said.