Taiwan authorities detain Chinese fishing boat with 13 crew members for fishing illegally

The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) told Focus Taiwan that  it received a report Tuesday morning that a Chinese ship had intruded into Taiwan waters, 14 nautical miles (25.93 kilometers) northeast of the islet.

At around 1 p.m. Tuesday, a CGA vessel was dispatched to a location 16 nautical miles northeast of Pengjia, where the coast guard officers recorded video footage of the Chinese trawler fishing illegally, with its name and number painted over, the news portal reported.

When the CGA vessel approached and requested an inspection, the trawler turned around and attempted to flee, but the coast guard gave chase and intercepted the fishing boat, the CGA told Focus Taiwan.

Coast guard officers then boarded the fishing boat and found about 2,000 kilograms of live fish onboard, which they tossed back into the sea, CGA said.

The trawler was escorted to Zhengbin fishing port in Keelung, and the 13 crew members were detained, pending further investigation, the CGA said.

According to reports, the nets and other equipment have been confiscated.

The Chinese fishing boat, later identified as the "Min Jin Yu 05369," departed from a fishing port in Jinjiang City in China's Fujian Province on March 19, according to the CGA as reported by Focus Taiwan.