A Taiwanese longline fishing vessel caught illegally fishing has fled Marshall Islands waters following a high-speed chase by a government patrol vessel.
Despite the Taiwan vessel evading capture, the Marshall Islands Sea Patrol Chief, Thomas Heine, says the vessel has been identified.
Mr Heine says the Fu Yang 168 was caught red-handed with its fishing lines in the water inside the Marshalls' 200 mile zone.
He says efforts are underway to put it on a regional blacklist so that it will be banned from fishing in the Pacific.
Meanwhile, a second vessel, the Japanese Chidori #5, is being pursued by the maritime police of the Federated States of Micronesia after was found fishing illegally within the 12-mile limit of an island in the FSM.
