Miri fishermen want stricter licensing laws, monitoring

KUCHING: The Miri Fishermen Association (MFA) has renewed calls for the authorities to revoke licences issued to foreign fishermen.

Its chairman, Jamali Basri, said the association believed that the issuance of the licences had led to the encroachment of foreign fishing vessels on the country’s waters.

Jamali did not discount the possibility of irresponsible locals being in cahoots with foreign fishermen and helping them obtain licences from the Fisheries Department.

“We believe that there are people here who had helped foreign fishermen to register fishing boats from Vietnam and Thailand with the department.

“Instead of running the fishing operation, we believe that this group of people ‘rented’ the licences to the foreigners, enabling them to encroach on our waters.

“This must be stopped. Not only are they encroaching on our waters, but foreign fishermen are also stealing and depleting our resources,” he said yesterday.

Jamali said he feared that waters within the state’s territory would run out of fish and other marine resources if problems related to the encroachment of foreign fishermen were not addressed.

He said this was not the first time the association had made such calls. Earlier this year, he said, MFA made a similar proposal as the association was concerned with the safety of local fishermen.

“We hope for an amicable solution to this problem.

“And, we also hope that the government will come out with a stricter requirement and better monitoring mechanism when issuing fishing licences.”

Instead of running the fishing operation, we believe that this group of people ‘rented’ the licences to the foreigners, enabling them to encroach on our waters. This must be stopped. Not only they are encroaching on our waters, but foreign fishermen are also stealing and depleting our resources. JAMALI BASRI Miri Fishermen Association chairman