The Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base, Formoso, on Thursday, handed over a fishing trawler, MFV Dr Marius-1, and its 14 crew members to the Federal Department of Fisheries in Bayelsa State for prosecution.
The trawler and the crew members were arrested on Tuesday while allegedly operating without the appropriate licence within an area reserved for artisanal fishing boats around Middleton River.
The Commanding Officer, Capt. Murtala Rogo, who represented by the Executive Officer of the Base, Commander Dantani Bukar, handed over the trawler and the crew members at a brief ceremony held in Egwema, Brass.
Rogo said the activities of the suspects violated the Sea Fisheries Act of 1992, adding that such infractions would not be tolerated by the Nigerian Navy.
“Let me also add that the Nigerian Navy will not relent in its efforts towards the policing and enforcement of maritime laws. To this end, I wish to advise all mariners to be law-abiding as they engage in the Nigerian maritime domain,” he said.
Rogo said fishing companies and their agents must pay particular attention to the instructions on Form B issued to them by the Federal Department of Fisheries as licence and the same must be communicated and understood by the vessel crew, to avoid any form of infringement on the law.
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