TUGUEGARAO CITY — Seven Vietnamese fishermen on Monday paid the government a P300,000 fine, five months after they were arrested for poaching in the waters off Cagayan province.
The Vietnamese also relinquished their fishing vessel to the government.
The boat was built in 2016 and could be used for research activities, said Nelson Bien, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director in Cagayan Valley.
A patrol team from the BFAR and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) caught them fishing near Dalupiri Island in Calayan, Cagayan, on Aug. 17 last year.
Boat captain Nguyen Duc Teang and fishermen Le Van Nhanil, Cao Minh Tan, Nguyen Viet Cong, Nguyen Viet Thanh, Tra Minh Trung and Dang Ngoc Trung are waiting for other government agencies to clear them so they can return to their country.
In a report, Chruschev Paul de Peralta, BFAR fisheries enforcer, said the vessel was stationary, with its lights on, when the patrol team approached.
The crew switched off the lights and cut their fishing lines when they saw the Philippine patrol, the report said.
BFAR and PCG personnel found squid bait and 30 pieces of blue marlin and yellow fin tuna in the Vietnamese fishermen’s vessel. —Villamor Visaya Jr.