Navy nabs foreign fishermen, 500kg of catch seized

KUCHING: Thirty-one foreign fishermen were detained by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) for illegally fishing in Malaysian waters on Sunday.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak director First Admiral Robert Teh said the 31, including the skipper, were intercepted by a Navy patrol boat about 60 nautical miles north of Kuching.

“The foreign vessel is believed to have been conducting illegal and uncontrolled fishing after having encroached into Malaysian waters. RMN has handed over the case to us (MMEA) for further investigation,” he told a press conference at the Tun Abang Salahuddin Maritime Complex (Komtas) in Muara Tebas, here yesterday.

According to Teh, those detained are believed to be Vietnamese despite none of them possessing any form of documentation.

In addition to the arrests, he said about 500kg of catch were confiscated from the vessel, with the case now being investigated under Section 15 of the Fisheries Act 1985.

“MMEA has received a lot of reports from the local fishing community on the encroachment of foreign fishing vessels. Together with the Navy, we have carried out operations to nab those stealing from our waters,” he said.

The foreign vessel is believed to have been conducting illegal and uncontrolled fishing after having encroached into Malaysian waters. RMN has handed over the case to us (MMEA) for further investigation. First Admiral Robert Teh

The foreign fishermen seen huddled in their vessel after they were intercepted by the Navy ship on Sunday.

Navy personnel stand guard over the foreign fishermen as the RMN ship escorts the fishing vessel to the Komtas jetty in Muara Tebas.