Coast Guard: 15 caught illegal fishing off Cebu

Fifteen crewmembers of a fishing banca were caught engaged in illegal fishing off Cebu, the Coast Guard said Sunday. The Coast Guard said the fishermen on the F/B Entan San Antonio were caught using "fine meshed nets and active gear" at 5:40 a.m. Friday. In a report on its website, the Coast Guard said the vessel was intercepted 1.9 nautical miles west of Barangay Binlayan in Samboan, Cebu. Joint forces of the Naval Intelligence Security Group, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Cebu Provincial Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force and Regional Mobile Unit intercepted the vessel. The Coast Guard said some P2 million worth of items, including the banca, the fishing gear and fish caught, were seized from the crew and turned over to the local police. A record check showed the fishing banca, estimated to weigh some 5.49 gross tons, is owned by barangay captain Taneto Luardo, the banca's captain.   "Further investigation revealed that subject fishing banca has no pertinent documents including its 15 crews," the Coast Guard said. The arrest was made three days after the imposition of a three-month ban on fishing sardine and mackerel in the Visayan Sea, though the Coast Guard did not specify whether the fishermen had been fishing for those species. — BM, GMA News