The Sri Lanka Navy on Friday has arrested 23 local fishermen in two separate incidents for allegedly engaged in illegal fishing practices. Naval personnel attached to Fast Attack Craft P 4444 and P 4445, deployed in the Eastern Naval Command, arrested 13 fishermen who engaged in illegal fishing practices in the sea area off Kokkuthuduwai Friday. Along with the suspects, four dinghies and an unauthorized net were also taken into custody by the Navy. The fishermen and the seized items have been brought to the naval base SLNS Walagamba in Kuchchaveli and handed over to the Kuchchaveli Police for further investigations. In a separate incident on the same day, naval personnel attached to SLNS Vijaya located in Kalpitiya in the North Western Naval Command arrested ten fishermen engaged in fishing activities in Serakkuliya lagoon area using unauthorized nets. During the arrest, 5 dinghies, 6 unauthorized nets used for fishing were taken into naval custody. The arrested persons and the belongings were produced to the Puttalam Fisheries Inspector for onward investigations. Sri Lanka’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry has banned the use of monofilament nets for fishing.
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