MMEA: Hiring Vietnamese fishermen ups encroachment
PORT KLANG: The hiring of fishermen from Vietnam is among the reasons for the increase in encroachment activities, said the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
Maritime director-general Admiral Datuk Zulkifli Abu Bakar said local fishermen who hired workers or fishermen from Vietnam had contributed to an increase in encroachment in Malaysian waters.
“From our surveillance and checks, even local fishermen are making cloned vessels besides using illegal nets,” he said, adding MMEA would continue to monitor the situation.
Speaking to reporters after a ceremony to lay the keel for the first of three units of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) at the TH Heavy Engineering Bhd shipyard in Pulau Indah, he pointed out that such activities had, however, been curbed lately with the help of the Vietnamese government.
On the incident where two Malaysian fishing vessels were seized and another shot at off
Kuala Selangor on July 18, Zulkifli said that investigations involving both Malaysia and Indonesia traced the bullets to Indonesian authorities.
“Further investigations showed
that one of our fishing boats did enter Indonesian waters.
“However, weapons should not have been used.
“Random firing was not the right way,” he said, adding that firing
should only serve as a warning and for self-defence.
It was reported that the Indonesian authorities chased and fired shots at one of the three vessels.