7 foreign fishing units arrested in Tunisian waters

Tunisian maritime authorities arrested 7 fishing boats, including 6 Egyptian and 1 Italian. The boats entered the Tunisian waters to fish illegally off the Gulf of Gabes at a time when fishing is banned over the coastline because of the biological recovery period (from July 1 to September 30 of each year). Five fishing boats (4 Egyptian and 1 Italian) are stranded now in the ports of Zarzis (2) and Sfax (3), pending the regularisation of their administrative and judicial situation. Two Egyptian boats have already paid fines imposed by the Tunisian fishing law. The quantities of fish seized by Tunisian authorities reached 17 tons, i.e. an average of 2.5 tons for each boat.