Coast Guard ship Sarang apprehended three Sri Lankan fishing boats from near Ramayapatnam and another Coast Guard ship Priyadarshini apprehended one fishing boat from near Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh coast in the last couple of days.
An official release said the Coast Guard launched an extensive anti-poaching operation in the sea adjoining Tamil Nadu and Andhra coasts where large scale fishing activity by Sri Lankan poachers was noticed.
The vessels were illegally engaged in fishing in Indian waters. A total of 15 Sri Lankan crew were on board. The apprehended Sri Lankans were from Matara/Dondra area and Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka, the release said.
The boats were equipped with GPS, radar and long range high frequency communication gadgets, which posed a very high security risk, according to the official release.
The authorities seized 3,775 kg of fish from the seized boats.
