Vanuatu waters

The men, who appeared yesterday in the Port Vila Supreme Court, also made not guilty pleas to charges of fishing having unstowed fishing gears.

The 14, who are crew members on two fishing vessels, Dong Gan Xing 13 and its sister ship, Don Gan Xing 16, were arrested by a maritime police patrol boat in Vanuatu's north in January.

They were spotted by a French military plane which alerted Vanuatu maritime authorities.

A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for June the 4th.

Over the past few years blue boats have been found in Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and as far south as Australia and New Caledonia.
 
The director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency James Movick says these vessels, most of which come from Vietnam, are difficult to catch.