Soyo - A semi-industrial vessel from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was seized Wednesday in the municipality of Soyo, Zaire province, for illegal fishing, ANGOP learned today.
This is the second time in less than two months that the vessel has been seized by local authorities for illegal fishing in territorial waters.
The boat was spotted by the staff of the Command of the Northern Naval Region of the Angolan Navy (MGA) in Soyo, trawling 37 nautical miles off the Angolan coast, near the mouth of the Zaire River.
According to the spokesman for the MGA's Northern Naval Region Command, frigate lieutenant Paulo Cassanga, the vessel had already been seized on May 4 of this year and was released on July 24, after payment of a fine valued at more than 130 million kwanzas.
Speaking to the press, the source explained that 10 citizens were on board the ship, two Chinese (crew members) and eight citizens of DRC, and 300 boxes of various fish were found in the vessel.
The DRC-flagged vessel belongs to a Chinese company called 'Bosa F2', based at the Mwanda Banana naval base (DRC), according to the source, who regretted the capture of small fish due to the use of nets prohibited in semi-industrial fishing.
The municipality of Soyo shares a vast river border (Zaire River) with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). PMV/JL/DOJ
