- DAMMAM: The Fishermen’s Society in the Eastern Province is working with the Saudi Embassy in Doha to secure a quick release of six Saudi boats detained for trespassing on Qatari waters.
- Twenty-eight fishermen are being held for questioning by Qatari authorities.
Col. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, spokesman for the Border Guards in the Eastern Province, said fishermen trespassing on another country’s territorial waters was not a rare event. “Qatari authorities have notified us about the arrests. It is routine for Border Guards to detain intruding fishermen from neighboring countries for investigations if they stay too long in the territorial waters of that country,” he said.
“The same steps would be taken by the Saudi Border Guards when boats from a neighboring country stray into Saudi waters.”
The Qatari Border Guards will demand an explanation from the fishermen for their violation of regulations governing territorial waters, he said. “The penal steps taken by a neighboring state would, in most cases, be an imposition of fines on the trespassers,” he added.
“However, this is a routine matter and the fishermen would be released if no contraband is found on board. If they were carrying any forbidden things in the boat, they would be treated as smugglers. “Fishermen should carry maps marking locations where they should not go. That is why the Border Guard tells fishermen to follow its instructions.”
Territorial waters lie only 18 nautical miles off the Saudi coast and beyond that are international waters where trawlers and fishermen of all nations can freely enter. On the other hand, some fishermen said Saudi fishermen’s frequent trespassing into neighboring territorial waters was the reason why most waters near the Kingdom are off-limits.
“Most of the fishing area off the Saudi coast is out of bounds for security reasons or oil drilling,” said a fisherman in Dammam.
“On the other hand, thousands of fishing boats in Dammam, Alkhobar, Jubail, Qatif, Darin, Munifah and Saihat have to scramble for a fishing space in a too limited area and the situation sometimes leads to them violating territorial waters.”
In an identical incident, 40 Saudi fishermen on six boats from the province were detained by Qatar in 2009. They were released after the boat owners paid fines imposed by Qatari authorities.