The government sits today (Sunday) to take a decision on two foreign fishing vessels that illegally entered into the country's maritime territory, officials said.
"We are holding a meeting of government departments concerned tomorrow (Sunday)," joint secretary (Blue-Economy) of the ministry of fisheries and livestock (MoFL) Md Towfiqul Arif told the FE on Saturday.
He said that a Chattogram-based private marine fisheries company brought the two fishing vessels of Cameroon without taking any permission from the government. The vessels are now under the government custody, according to the MoFL.
The fisheries ministry officials further said that vessels of any country that are not member of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) cannot engage in any kind of fishing activities in the Indian Ocean.
Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, China, Comoros, Eritrea, European Union, France, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Yemen and the United Kingdom are the member states of IOTC.
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