Nizar Ayyash, spokesman for the union of Gaza fishermen, said Egyptian forces surrounded a Palestinian fishing boat boarded by three fishermen in waters off the city of Rafah -- located 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Gaza City - and detained them early on Tuesday.
The development comes as Egyptian forces had earlier opened fire on Gaza fishermen.
On September 16, 2013, Egyptian forces arrested two Gaza fishermen off the coast of the southern Gaza city Rafah.
Two Palestinian fishermen were wounded and five others arrested on August 30 last year, when Egyptian naval forces fired at them.
Tensions have been rising between Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Egypt’s interim government since the Egyptian military ousted president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013.
Palestinian boats are permitted to fish up to six nautical miles from the Gaza coast according to the terms of Israel's naval blockade on the impoverished enclave.
The fishing area was extended to six nautical miles from three on November 21, 2012, in the truce deal that ended an eight-day Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, an act which has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages and adequate healthcare and education.
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