Today, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense announced that an Egyptian boat got intercepted due to its "Illegal fishing", in the fourth such incident in less than three weeks.
The ministry stated that a ship belonging to it intercepted an Egyptian "fishing by tow" boat with 15 sailors on board in the Tunisian fishing area, 136 km east of Kerkennah island in the state of Sfax.
The ministry also added that the Maritime Intervention Squad took control of the boat and carried it to the main naval base in Sfax to take legal action in it.
It indicated that the number of Egyptian boats seized by the sea army units since December 16 reached four.
On the other hand, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced, in a statement published yesterday, that two new Egyptian fishing boats got detained by Tunisia after they entering territorial waters in an illegal fishing operation.
This was stated by Amr Mahmoud Abbas, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad, adding that the movements of the two Egyptian boats prompted the Tunisian authorities to arrest them and take them to the naval base in Sfax.
The assistant minister confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following up, in coordination with the embassy in Tunisia, the developments related to the conditions of detained fishermen to ensure their safety, the progress of investigations, and the coordination with the Tunisian authorities to take measures to return them to the homeland.
The official appealed to the Egyptian fishermen to refrain from entering the territorial waters of other countries, out of respect for their sovereignty and to avoid falling under the laws of these countries.
This incident comes after the detention of 17 Egyptian fishermen in Tunisia, after getting caught in an illegal fishing trip earlier last December.
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