Five fishermen were arrested by Fisheries Administration officials on Saturday for allegedly using illegal fishing devices at two different locations on the Tonle Sap lake, according to a statement by one of the officials yesterday.

Kampong Luong Fisheries Administration chief Pin Vuthy said that authorities were patrolling the lake when they found two Vietnamese nationals fishing illegally in Pursat’s Kampong Prak fish sanctuary.

Vuthy added that the authorities confiscated their motorboat, a fishing net, a machete and 35 kilograms of fish.

He also noted that the suspects and evidence were sent to the provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Pursat on preliminary charges of “fishing with an illegal fishing device in a protected fishery location”.

In a similar case in Siem Reap province, Fisheries Administration authorities alongside provincial military police arrested three Vietnamese nationals while they were allegedly fishing using illegal fishing devices in Chung Khnies commune.

“The suspects and evidence will be sent to Siem Reap Provincial Court on Monday morning for further procedures,” Siem Reap provincial Fisheries Administration chief Chan Tong said.