Pakistan detains 73, seizing two Indian fishing trawlers
Pakistan Times National News Desk

KARACHI: Pakistani authorities detained 73 Asian and South Asian crew members after seizing two Indian registered fishing trawlers found plying Pakistan's waters on Sunday.

Sources say, the trawlers were intercepted by Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency after they sailed deeper into Pakistan waters.

The two trawlers loaded with some 70 tons of Tuna fish were seized 225 km southeast of Karachi.

The trawlers were intercepted by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency after sailing deeper into Pakistan waters, the agency’s deputy director general, Captain Mohsin Mirza, told reporters.

“They illegally entered and were busy fishing in our exclusive economic zone,” he said.

The two trawlers loaded with some 70 tonnes of Tuna fish were seized 225 kilometres (140 miles) southeast of Karachi, he said.

The trawlers were registered in Visakhapatnam city in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Mirza said.

The Detainees

The detainees included 38 Filipinos, 14 Indians, 15 Chinese and six Taiwanese.

The trawlers were registered in Visakhapatnam city in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, said sources.

Last week Pakistan released hundreds of Indian fishermen caught illegally working the country’s waters. Pakistani and Indian authorities frequently detain fishermen for straying into each other’s territory.●