Filipinos deported

MANADO, N. Sulawesi: About 700 Filipino fishermen were arrested and deported for poaching fish in Indonesian waters in the 1996/1997 fiscal year, a local official said yesterday.

Asrul Hamid of the Bitung immigration office said the fishermen did not have proper licenses, Antara reported.

The office intends to deport about 90 other crew members of Philippine boats caught fishing illegally in northern Maluku.

They were aboard pump boats which can carry between 10 and 20 tons of fish.