PUTRAJAYA, 9 Nov 2017:
A total of 256 foreign fishing boats were detained since last year involving seizure worth RM180 million, said Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi.
He said boats from Vietnam made the highest number to have encroached into the Malaysian waters. “In fact, 55% of them were recurring cases, involving the same boats.”
Munir said the department had also detained 2,199 foreign fishing boar crew throughout the period.
“Although our enforcement operation is limited to 12 nautical miles from the coastal areas, the information shared through the Vessel Monitoring System has helped the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Marine Police in enforcing the laws, including in detaining foreign fishing vessels found encroaching into Malaysian waters.”
In addressing the issue of the marine resources leakage, Munir said the department had revoked the licences issued to 472 vessels for violating the Fisheries Act 1985.
He said the department had also tightened the licence requirements, compelling deep-sea fishing vessels using trawler and purse-seine nets to land a minimum of 250 and 350 tonnes of fish per year. And if they fail, their licence renewal application would be rejected.
Munir said the leakage of national marine resources normally occurred at sea where the resources were being taken out of the national waters directly.
Using Malay names for their boats and flying Malaysian flag on their vessels are among the tactics used by foreign fishermen to fool and avoid detection by the local authorities.
MMEA district director Capt (Maritime) Amran Daud said this was discovered with the detention of fishing boats from Vietnam in the waters of Tanjung Sedili, near Kota Tinggi on Tuesday.
In a statement, he said the two boats were detained at 22 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Sedili at 12.05pm and 12.28pm respectively.
“The two Vietnamese fishing boats were registered under the names of Azam Baru 1 and Azam Baru 2, and had 23 crew members aged between 19 and 55.
“We have seized the boats and all fishing equipment with six tonnes of fish, all estimated to be worth RM450,000.”
Amran said further investigation also found that the boats have no valid fishing licences and some crews were without valid identification documents.
The case is being investigated under Section 15 (1) and Section 16 (3) of the Fisheries Act 1895.
Amran also urged the public especially local fishermen with information about encroachment by foreign fishermen to contact the 24-hour Tanjung Sedili Maritime District Operation Centre at 07-8916595.
– Bernama