KAFR EL SHEIKH, Egypt: The families of 16 Egyptian fishermen detained in Misarata, Libya have appealed to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to intervene and release their children. The men were detained for illegally entering Libyan territorial waters. "After the fishermen contacted us to inform us they were detained in Misrata we have had no information on them,” said Ahmed Abdu Nassar, President of the Association for Fishermen's Welfare in Burg Moghaizel. “We ask the Foreign Ministry to intervene, seeing as they only accidentally entered Libyan territorial waters on their way to a fishing expedition near Malta," he added. The mother of fisherman Mohamed Ahmed, one of those held in Misrata, said she fears for her son and appealed to the Libyan people to let her son go, "as he was only seeking out his livelihood to feed his family." The Libyan authorities in Misrata arrested the fishing boat ‘Abu Shadi' on Sunday evening. The boat left Burg Moghaziel ten days ago on a fishing trip to Malta.