CAIRO, Dec. 23 (Aswat Masriya) Tunisian coast guard authorities arrested 16 Egyptian fishermen on Monday night for illegally entering and trawl fishing on the coast of Zarzis, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

In a statement on its official website, the Tunisian defense ministry said that the boat-full of fishermen that broke into the Tunisian territorial waters have been handed over to the National Guard of the Zarzis Coast in order to proceed with the legal consequences.

The fine for breaking into Tunisian territorial waters ranges between 20 to 220 thousand dollars.

Scores of Egyptians have been detained, and later released, in Libya, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia for illegally crossing over into their territorial waters to fish.  

Egyptian fishermen often illegally take to the territorial waters of other states in order to fish, and as a result have been frequently detained at the hands of foreign authorities.

The Egyptian foreign ministry has repeatedly issued warnings to fishermen against illegally entering regional waters.