DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Tanzanian court on Thursday jailed eight fishermen for three years each after it had convicted them of involvement in illegal fishing in a national park northwest of the country.
The convicted fishermen will each serve the jail terms after they failed to pay fines.
Chato District Court in Geita region in northwest Tanzania also confiscated three boat engines and one fishing boat which the fishermen used for illegal fishing.
The court also ordered the burning of illegal fishing nets that were seized from the fishermen.
Erasto Anosisye, a state attorney, had told the court that police arrested the fishermen early this month in the Burigi-Chato National Park engaged in illegal fishing.
On Jan. 19, 2020, Tanzanian authorities declared a special crackdown on importers of illegal fishing gear saying the malpractice affected the fisheries industry in the east African nation.
