MMEA: WE NEED 2 MOTHER SHIPS
Vessels can launch UAVs to ‘capture’ evidence of illegal fishing, says D-G
HAVING two “mother ships” will help the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) win court cases against foreign fishermen it detains as these ships can launch unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the UAVs can be launched on routine patrols to take photographic evidence of illegal trawling by foreign fishermen.
He noted that these foreign fishermen, who are mostly from Vietnam, would cut loose their trawling nets at the first sign of trouble.
“As a result, they (illegal fishermen) tend to be acquitted by the courts as there is insufficient evidence against them. With these mother ships, the UAVs can use their onboard cameras to take pictures (of illegal fishing) as evidence.
“When the UAV encounters (illegal fishing in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ), the mother ships can launch six smaller boats to the scene.
“Even if they (illegal fishermen) cut the nets, we have already got the evidence (to win court cases against them),” he said at a ceremony for the handing over of duties between outgoing MMEA Eastern Region commander First Admiral Datuk Mamu Said Alee and his successor First Admiral Zulkarnain Mohd Omar at the regional headquarters here yesterday.
He said having mother ships with UAVs and smaller vessels would enable the agency to patrol 100 nautical miles in every direction.
He said this was important because MMEA had caught 102 fishing boats from Vietnam encroaching on Malaysian waters between January and this month alone.
Zulkifili said having mother ships would boost MMEA’s holistic approach to tackling encroachment on the country’s EEZ by foreign fishermen as their activities caused huge losses to Malaysian fishermen, among other things.
“For example, trawling by foreign fishing boats scrape the sea bottom and damage coral reefs, which are the natural habitats of fish and other marine life.
“It was reported that the Fisheries Department has estimated the country suffered losses of between RM3 billion and RM6 billion annually (from illegal fishing activities).
“However, when ecosystem damage is taken into account, the losses suffered by the nation would be larger and possibly beyond repair,” he said.
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had called on maritime enforcement agencies to protect the country’s EZZ from encroachment by foreign fishing vessels at all costs.