Viet-made boats fishing legally

Vessels bought by Malaysian companies and manned by Vietnamese

KOTA KINABALU: The 31 Vietnamese vessels licensed to operate in Sabah waters are above board, says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin.

In denying concerns over the foreigners’ eligibility to fish in Sabah waters, he said the boats’ catch were landed in the state, while the crew members got their fuel and supplies from Sabah as well.

Yahya, who is state Agriculture and Food Industries Minister, said the Fisheries Department was mon itoring their operations and their catch were accounted for.

He added that the 31 boats were among 51 licensed for deepsea fishing in the state.

“These are Vietnamesemade fishing vessels bought by Malaysian companies as they are said to be cheaper,” said Yahya.

“They are crewed by Vietnamese nationals because there are not enough Malaysians willing to work as deepsea fishermen.”

He added that apart from Vietnammade vessels, there were other vessels made in Indonesia, China and the Philippines that were licensed for deepsea fishing in Sabah waters.

However, no new licences had been issued for foreignmade fishing vessels since 2015.

Yahya said these were licensed to catch larger fish such as tuna.

“They would have small floating nets to catch smaller fish such as sardines to be used as live bait for their lines,” he added.

Yahya was commenting on Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director for Sabah and Labuan Laksamana Muda Maritim Mohd Zubil Mat Som, who questioned whether the catch by the 31 Vietnamese fishing vessels were landed in Sabah.

Mohd Zubil had also enquired where they got their fuel and supplies from.

He also questioned whether inspections were carried out on the vessels at the port to check the type of fishing equipment on board.

The issue of Vietnamese fishing vessels in Sabah waters was raised in Parliament recently.

On Aug 4, The Star reported the activities of Vietnamese fishermen who travel 1,400km into Malaysian waters to harvest seafood, notably sea cucumber.