MMEA detains four foreign fishing boats

KEMAMAN: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has detained four Vietnamese fishing boats with 37 crew and four skippers in the Malaysian Exclusive Zone (ZEE) while they were busy catching fish.

Kemaman Maritime Zone Chief Lt Commander Mohamad Rezal Kamal Basha said the boats were detained at between 100 and 104 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman between 10.40am and 1.20pm on Saturday in the Ops Iman, Ops Pekasa and Ops Marikh conducted in the waters off Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.

He said the boats were detained in four separate locations not far from Pulau Tioman, Pahang and oil rigs where the crew thought they could avoid detection by the authorities.

“At the same time, the squid season and the migration of fish to shallow waters to nest were also factors which drew the foreign fishermen into Malaysian waters,” he said in a press conference held at the Kemaman Maritime Base here yesterday.

He said investigations found that two of the four boats carried diesel and food supplies for other boats at sea so that they could stay in the waters longer.

Mohamad Rezal said the crew and skippers who were between 19 and 57 years old failed to produce identification papers or valid permits from the Fisheries Department which allowed them to fish in Malaysian waters.

The MMEA also seized the boats and fishing equipment estimated to be worth RM4.5 million, 5.5 tonnes of fish fertiliser worth RM5,000; five tonnes of mixed fish worth RM125,000, and 17,000 litres of diesel worth RM28,050.

The case is being investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 and Immigration Act 1959.

Mohamad Rezal said from the Ops Iman, Ops Pekasa and Ops Marikh conducted from early January until July this year, the MMEA made 33 arrests in the waters off Kemaman.