Crew of three vessels found using small boats for fish bombing
KOTA KINABALU: Three large fishing vessels have been detected using smaller boats to carry out fish bombing activities in Sabah waters.
Describing the situation as alarming, Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Min said the smaller boats would carry out blasting activities and supply the larger vessels, which were described as ‘mother ships’ with fish caught using the nefarious method.
Pang added that they have identified two of the mother ships, stating that they were both of foreign origin but declined to mention where they were from specifically.
He also said that the mother ships do not sell their catch to the market but rather process their catch, possibly on board.
Pang, who was attending the Maritime Environmental Security Workship 2017 yesterday, is also the chairman of the Anti-Fish Bombing Activities Committee in Sabah.
He said that the fish bombing activities were carried out in the northern part of Sabah.
Meanwhile, the director of Oceanway Corporation Limited, Paul Hodgson when presenting a paper entitled ‘Vision for a Sustainable Fisheries in Malaysia’ together with Adrian Chan, director of Reef Defenders based in Hong Kong, said that they detected the three mother ships in Sabah and had informed the local authorities about their presence.
He mentioned that one of the ship was from a neighbouring country, citing that they had tailed it all the way to its port of origin, while another was from Kudat.
They still do not know the origin of the third ship, he said.