Two foreign vessels caught on suspicion of illegal fishing |31 January 2015

Two foreign fishing vessels have been intercepted by the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) on suspicion of fishing illegally in the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The two Indian flagged vessels – Rehoboth and Jersh-Max – were spotted on January 28 by a local fishing boat, which alerted the Coast Guard by sending out a distress alert.

The Coast Guard acted on the alert by dispatching a Seychelles Air Force (SAF) Y12 aircraft and diverting patrol boat La Flêche that was on routine patrol.
Upon arriving on location, some 50 nautical miles East of Mahé, the aircraft spotted both the local fishing boat and the two foreign vessels.  
La Flêche was able to intercept the two suspected vessels and diverted them to Port Victoria.

With the assistance of another SCG ship, Etoile, the two foreign vessels were escorted back to Port Victoria.
The two suspected foreign fishing vessels and their 20 crew members (10 on each vessel) arrived in port on Thursday afternoon and have since been handed over to the Seychelles Fishing Authority and Seychelles Police for further investigations.
This operation comes just over one month after two Iranian vessels were intercepted in almost similar circumstances.