‘Many local boats look like Vietnamese vessels’

rector Rear Admiral Mohd Zubil Mat Som said not all “foreign” fishing vessels in Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone waters were illegal intruders.

He said many vessels might resemble Vietnamese vessels, but they belonged to Malaysians.

“These are legal vessels, owned by Malaysians using Vietnamese boat structures and employees, but locally licenced.”

He said MMEA had, on various occasions, called on the state Fisheries Department to meet the agency and Immigration Department to discuss sea, fishing and enforcement-related problems, but the effort did not receive any response.

“In the past, MMEA had asked from the department a detailed list, including boat registration details, serial numbers and names of foreigners who worked on these boats, particularly the Vietnamese-looking vessels, but it didn’t give us the information.

“Enforcement officers often chase boats that look like Vietnamese fishing vessels, but it turns out they are Malaysian-licensed vessels.”

He said another menace was foreign vessels with fake registration numbers.

“These boats carry ‘valid’ numbers, but of another vessel... The crew members paint the numbers on the boat to avoid getting caught.”

Zubil expressed concern that foreign fishing vessels could damage the seabed as many did not adhere to fishing rules and regulations set by the Fisheries Department.

“Some methods are completely banned because they disrupt the whole underwater life cycle and can cause the extinction of certain rare species in the long run.”

Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi said the agency lodged reports on encroachment by foreign vessels on a daily basis.

“We monitor our waters with our system, which connects with our control room.

“Every day, we see Vietnamese vessels encroaching on our land up to 200 nautical miles, and we pass information, such as the ship’s position, to MMEA.

“We assume it will take further action based on our reports,” he said, adding that the department viewed the matter seriously.

The department, Munir said, did not rule out the possibility of following in the footsteps of Indonesia, which destroyed illegal fishing vessels that encroached on its waters.

“When necessary, we will do it. But we will need to go through the legal process, and this will take some time.”

He said MMEA had the power to prosecute illegal vessels operating in Malaysian waters with the Fisheries Act 1958.

“Any illegal transfer or transactions in the middle of the sea comes under the purview of MMEA. We can control this through our system, where we introduced log books for vessels.

“Each time a vessel docks, crew members must record the amount of their catch.

“They must comply with a minimum requirement of 250 to 350 metric tonnes per year, depending on the type of ship.” Additional reporting by Aliza Shah