Taiwan boat crew charged

BASCO, Batanes—The Taiwanese and Indonesian crew members of a Taiwan-registered fishing boat that was caught poaching off Itbayat were charged on Friday in the Regional Trial Court here.

The fishing vessel, Sheng Feng No. 12, which carried assorted fishing paraphernalia and an undetermined amount of catch, was intercepted and impounded by a team from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Philippine Coast Guard more than 10 kilometers from Misanga Island in Itbayat at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Batanes Deputy Prosecutor Rodolfo Manaloto filed the poaching charges against the boat’s captain, Horng Tian Ding, and his technician, Huang An Sheng, both Taiwanese, as well as Indonesian crew members Aru Apriyanto and Muhammad Ibnu Khafif, and two other Indonesians identified only as Samhuri and Rasugi.

Edwin Gonzales, BFAR regulatory officer, said the BFAR and Coast Guard team saw six Taiwanese fishing vessels near Misanga Island while on patrol on Thursday but was able to catch only one boat. Juliet Cataluña, Inquirer Northern Luzon