KUDAT: Two trawler fishing boats were detained by the Kudat Zone Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency last Saturday after they were found conducting fishing activities less than three nautical miles from the shore.
Kudat Maritime Zone Director, Maritime Commander Hasbullah Omar, said the boats were detained at around 6.30pm some 2.6 nautical miles northeast of the Marina river mouth, following information from the Sabah Sea Surveillance System (Swasla).
Hasbullah said a Maritime Malaysia patrol vessel on duty under Op Sejahtera, Op Pluto Timur, Op Cegah Pati and Op Tiris was immediately deployed to the location and found the boats towing trawl nets within the prohibited distance.
He said further checks found six individuals onboard, including the skippers – two of them were locals and four were Indonesians, all of whom possessed valid identification documents.
Earlier, another fishing boat was detained around 7pm some 2.2 nautical miles east of Tagumamal waters, also based on information from the Swasla system.
According to Hasbullah, the second boat was carrying nine crew members, including one Filipino national who was found with questionable identification documents.
“In total, Maritime Malaysia seized over 1.5 tonnes of various fish and two tonnes of trash fish from both detentions.
“All suspects, along with the boats and the seized catch, were brought to the Kudat Maritime Zone jetty and handed over to the investigating officer for further action,” he said.
“The cases are being investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 for breaching fishing licence conditions and the Immigration Act 1959/63 for possession of questionable documents.”
Hasbullah emphasised that the agency will continue to tighten patrols and surveillance across Sabah waters to combat illegal fishing activities, which not only violate the law but also threaten national marine resources.
