Kota Kinabalu: Eight Vietnamese fishermen were fined a total of RM1.7 million for illegal fishing.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus meted out the sentence to the Vietnamese who pleaded guilty separately to the charge against them, on Monday.
Skipper Le Van Cuong, 53, was fined RM1million in default five months’ jail while the crews Huynh Van Ut, 42, Vo Ninh Chanh, 29, Nguyen Van Thien, 22, Tran Van Ly, 30, Phan Tan Loc, 40, Tran Van Trung, 37, and Le Van Ty, 26, were ordered to pay a fine of RM100,000 or four months’ jail each.
The court ordered the vessel without registration and all its equipment forfeited to the Government of Malaysia.
The Vietnamese were also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after paying their fine or served their jail sentence.
The eight were found fishing illegally for sea cucumber at 7.30am on Sept 5, 2020 on board a foreign fishing boat which has no registration number on Kudat waters.
The offence under Section 15(1) of the Fisheries Act 1985 and punishable under Section 25(a) of the same Act and read together under Section 34 of the Penal Code, provides for a fine of up to RM6 million for the vessel skipper and RM600,000 for each crew of the vessel, on conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Muhammad Fitri Wan Azizan appeared for the prosecution.
