VLADIVOSTOK, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - Maritime border guards in Russia's Far East have detained two boats flying foreign flags on suspicion of poaching, a spokesman for Russia's Federal Security Service said on Tuesday.

The spokesman said one of the fishing boats, the Lomer, was sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone and had some 30-35 metric tons of live crab on board. The vessel was detained after the captain of the boat was unable to produce appropriate licenses.

The other fishing boat, the Agat-1, was flying the flag of Panama, and had some three metric tons of frozen herring on board for which its captain was also unable to produce licenses.

Both vessels were detained in the Sea of Okhotsk. Their crew members, the spokesman added, are Russian citizens.

Both boats are currently being accompanied by border guard vessels to the Russian port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

This year Russia has launched a crackdown on illegal exports of crab and other seafood and in May 2007 it banned the export of live crab. However, large volumes continue to be smuggled out of the country, primarily to Japan and South Korea.