Malaysia detains another 40 Vietnamese for illegal fishing

Malaysian maritime forces seized two boats with 40 Vietnamese fishermen aboard on Thursday for fishing illegally in their waters.

The Vietnamese, between 14 and 55 years of age, were using local registration numbers for their boats and posed as local fishermen, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said, as cited by national news agency Bernama.

A maritime officer said they were arrested on separate occasions around two hours and 12 nautical miles apart.

Fish catches worth $16,300 were seized, the report said.

Vietnamese fishermen have been arrested repeatedly for encroaching waters in the region in recent years.

Malaysia has arrested more than 70 Vietnamese fishermen since April, including the latest incident last week when 22 were caught.

More than 1,000 others arrested in Indonesia have been released this year.