October 20, 2017 @ 2:31pm
NST
Having two ‘motherships’ would help the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) win court cases against foreign fishermen it detains as these ships can launch unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
MMEA director-general Admiral Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the UAVs can be launched on routine patrols to take photographic evidence of illegal trawling by foreign fishermen.
He noted that these foreign fishermen, who are mostly from Vietnam, tend to cut lose their trawling nets at the first sign of trouble.
“As a result, they (illegal fishermen) tend to be acquitted by the courts as there is insufficient evidence against them. With these motherships, the UAVs can use their onboard cameras to take pictures (of illegal fishing activities) as evidence.
“When the UAV encounters (illegal fishing activities in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ), the mothership can launch six smaller boats to the scene.
“Even if they (illegal fishermen) cut the nets, we have already got the evidence (to win court cases against them),” he said.
Zulkifili was speaking after a ceremony for the handing over of duties between outgoing MMEA Eastern Region commander First Admiral Datuk Mamu Said Alee and his successor First Admiral Zulkarnain Mohd Omar at the regional Region headquarters here today.
He said having motherships with UAVs and the smaller vessels would enable the agency to patrol 100 nautical miles in every direction.
He said this was important in light of the fact that MMEA had caught 102 foreign fishing boats from Vietnam encroaching in Malaysian waters between January and this month alone.
Zulkifili said having such motherships would boost MMEA’s holistic approach to tackling encroachment of the country’s EEZ by foreign fishermen as their activities cause huge losses to Malaysian fishermen, among others.
“For example, trawling by foreign fishing boats scrape the sea bottom and damage coral reefs, which are the natural habitats of fish and other marine life.
“It was reported that the Fisheries Department has estimated between RM3 billion and RM6 billion in losses annually (from illegal fishing activities).
“However, when ecosystem damage is taken into account, the losses suffered by the nation would be larger and possibly beyond repair,” he said.
In June, Zulkifili had said MMEA needs two vessels to act as motherships to augment security and surveillance of Malaysian waters.
He had said having motherships would greatly help MMEA in joint cooperation efforts with other enforcement agencies such as marine police and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to safeguard Malaysian waters.
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had called on maritime enforcement agencies to protect the country’s EZZ from encroachment by foreign fishing vessels at all costs.
He said the encroachment by foreign vessels had caused the country to lose between RM3 billion and RM6 billion in revenue yearly.
Illegal foreign fishermen becoming ruthless, terrorising locals
KOTA KINABALU: Foreign fishermen are becoming fearless as they continue to encroach into Malaysian waters and move closer to coastal areas to catch fish.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the foreigners move in large groups of boats and are aggressive towards local fishermen.
"The situation is very serious, especially in West Malaysia. Fishermen in Terengganu, Kuantan and Pahang have complained.
"These foreign fishermen have moved very close to the beach. They have a mothership and more than 10 smaller boats.
"Our fishermen have to avoid them and fish in a different location as they (foreign fishermen) would do anything to prevent them from fishing in the area, including damaging the boats (of local fishermen) ," he told reporters during a press conference at the Sepanggar Navy base here today.
Shahidan said the foreign fishing vessels usually operate at night, adding that they usually wait along the maritime border until the sun sets before entering Malaysian waters.
However, he stressed that the government will not compromise with foreign fishermen who trespass into the country’s waters.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and other maritime security bodies are intensifying their operations to address the issue, said Shahida.
He said that according to MMEA statistics, the agency had stopped and inspected 27,223 foreign vessels operating in Malaysian waters this year.
"Thus far this year, the agency has seized 108 Vietnamese vessels and 25 Indonesian vessels. For the record, we have also taken stern action by disposing of and burning foreign boats after receiving court orders," he said.
Shahidan noted that the situation in Sabah is under control, adding that the state MMEA has seized 31 local vessels that were temporarily licensed as Vietnamese fishing boats by the Fisheries Department.
The vessels, with Vietnamese crewmembers, continued operating in the state’s waters even after their license expired last year.
"Among the offences committed are operating with expired license, fishing outside the permitted area, fishing using prohibited methods, and expired working permit," he said.
Terengganu MMEA detains 3 foreign fishing boats, seizes RM2.2m worth of catch
- October 1, 2017 @ 10:50pm NST
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained three foreign fishing boats and seized RM2.2 million worth of catch in operations off Kuala Kemaman on Thursday and Saturday.
The vessels, believed to be from Vietnam, were intercepted while operating within Malaysia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Kemaman MMEA Base director Lt. Commander Maritime Muhamad Rezal Kamal Bashah said the first boat was spotted on Sept 28, about 40 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman during patrols in the area.
Rezal said about 50kgs of sea cucumbers were seized from the vessel.
"The crews were found without valid documents and the boat's permit and licence were believed to be fake," he said today.
He said the second and third boats were stopped on Sept 30, between 6pm and 6.18pm about 48 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman.
"Both vessels were fishing in the area and the checks showed it was carrying various types of fish weighing 1,000kgs and 20,000 litres of diesel fuel.
"25 crews including two 'tekong' did not posses valid travel documents. Further checks showed the boats did not have valid licence to fish and its registration numbers were also believed to be fake," he added.
Rezal said the crews, aged between 16 and 52, were referred to the State Immigration Department and the seized items were worth about RM2.2 million.
He said the boats were taken to the Kemaman MMEA Base for further investigation under the Fishery Act 1985.
Illegal foreign commercial fisherman resorting to fish bombing in Sabah waters
- September 12, 2017 @ 1:25pm NST
KOTA KINABALU: Foreign fishermen in Sabah waters have been resorting to large scale fish bombing to haul in their ill gotten catches.
These foreign fisherman come in a large mother ship, with smaller boats in tow to carry out fish bombing operations and process them into products.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said the Ministry, via its Anti-Fish Bombing Committee, had identified two groups responsible for the illegal activity, adding that it is conducted in a big scale.
“They are the big timers and the Ministry is quite concerned with their activities. They have a mother ship and between six to eight small boats that will be deployed to bomb certain areas and collect the fishes in large quantity.
“The collected fishes are seldom sold to the market because the consumers are now smarter. Usually, the fishes are processed into products such as ‘ikan kering’ (dried fish).
“Certain people may not like to hear this but I’m going to be honest about it. These are the groups we need to take care of. We need the help of enforcement authorities to drive them away,” he told reporters at the Maritime Environmental Security Workshop 2017, here, today.
Pang, who is also the chairman of Anti-Fish Bombing Committee, refused to reveal locations where these foreign fisherman carry out their illegal activities. It is learnt that such groups had targeted waters off Kudat for their fish bombing activities.
“Based on information, they fish at our popular area. It is not (done) near the coastal area but in the open area. We are not sure how long they have been operating but they have been around for quite a while.
“They are not locals. We believe they are foreigners and that their vessels and boats are also registered outside (the country),” he said.
Speaking on the current level fish bombing activities in Sabah, Pang stressed the situation was quite rampant, adding most of the activities were done by small scale individuals.
“The Minister (Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun) has instructed us to take a holistic approach towards fish bombings.
“We need to give them option for better life and some of the things that we are looking at is (introducing them to) fish farming and tourism.
"The Minister is very concerned about it because he sees locals can participate more in tourism compared to what they are currently doing (fish bombing),” he said.
Pang also noted fish bombing activities by smaller groups at Pulau Mantanani off Kota Belud had dropped significantly since the World Wide Fund conducted continuous awareness programmes on the island for the past two years.
KOTA KINABALU: Foreign fishermen are becoming fearless as they continue to encroach into Malaysian waters and move closer to coastal areas to catch fish.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the foreigners move in large groups of boats and are aggressive towards local fishermen.
"The situation is very serious, especially in West Malaysia. Fishermen in Terengganu, Kuantan and Pahang have complained.
"These foreign fishermen have moved very close to the beach. They have a mothership and more than 10 smaller boats.
"Our fishermen have to avoid them and fish in a different location as they (foreign fishermen) would do anything to prevent them from fishing in the area, including damaging the boats (of local fishermen) ," he told reporters during a press conference at the Sepanggar Navy base here today.
Shahidan said the foreign fishing vessels usually operate at night, adding that they usually wait along the maritime border until the sun sets before entering Malaysian waters.
However, he stressed that the government will not compromise with foreign fishermen who trespass into the country’s waters.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and other maritime security bodies are intensifying their operations to address the issue, said Shahida.
He said that according to MMEA statistics, the agency had stopped and inspected 27,223 foreign vessels operating in Malaysian waters this year.
"Thus far this year, the agency has seized 108 Vietnamese vessels and 25 Indonesian vessels. For the record, we have also taken stern action by disposing of and burning foreign boats after receiving court orders," he said.
Shahidan noted that the situation in Sabah is under control, adding that the state MMEA has seized 31 local vessels that were temporarily licensed as Vietnamese fishing boats by the Fisheries Department.
The vessels, with Vietnamese crewmembers, continued operating in the state’s waters even after their license expired last year.
"Among the offences committed are operating with expired license, fishing outside the permitted area, fishing using prohibited methods, and expired working permit," he said.
Terengganu MMEA detains 3 foreign fishing boats, seizes RM2.2m worth of catch
- October 1, 2017 @ 10:50pm NST
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained three foreign fishing boats and seized RM2.2 million worth of catch in operations off Kuala Kemaman on Thursday and Saturday.
The vessels, believed to be from Vietnam, were intercepted while operating within Malaysia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Kemaman MMEA Base director Lt. Commander Maritime Muhamad Rezal Kamal Bashah said the first boat was spotted on Sept 28, about 40 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman during patrols in the area.
Rezal said about 50kgs of sea cucumbers were seized from the vessel.
"The crews were found without valid documents and the boat's permit and licence were believed to be fake," he said today.
He said the second and third boats were stopped on Sept 30, between 6pm and 6.18pm about 48 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman.
"Both vessels were fishing in the area and the checks showed it was carrying various types of fish weighing 1,000kgs and 20,000 litres of diesel fuel.
"25 crews including two 'tekong' did not posses valid travel documents. Further checks showed the boats did not have valid licence to fish and its registration numbers were also believed to be fake," he added.
Rezal said the crews, aged between 16 and 52, were referred to the State Immigration Department and the seized items were worth about RM2.2 million.
He said the boats were taken to the Kemaman MMEA Base for further investigation under the Fishery Act 1985.
Illegal foreign commercial fisherman resorting to fish bombing in Sabah waters
- September 12, 2017 @ 1:25pm NST
KOTA KINABALU: Foreign fishermen in Sabah waters have been resorting to large scale fish bombing to haul in their ill gotten catches.
These foreign fisherman come in a large mother ship, with smaller boats in tow to carry out fish bombing operations and process them into products.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said the Ministry, via its Anti-Fish Bombing Committee, had identified two groups responsible for the illegal activity, adding that it is conducted in a big scale.
“They are the big timers and the Ministry is quite concerned with their activities. They have a mother ship and between six to eight small boats that will be deployed to bomb certain areas and collect the fishes in large quantity.
“The collected fishes are seldom sold to the market because the consumers are now smarter. Usually, the fishes are processed into products such as ‘ikan kering’ (dried fish).
“Certain people may not like to hear this but I’m going to be honest about it. These are the groups we need to take care of. We need the help of enforcement authorities to drive them away,” he told reporters at the Maritime Environmental Security Workshop 2017, here, today.
Pang, who is also the chairman of Anti-Fish Bombing Committee, refused to reveal locations where these foreign fisherman carry out their illegal activities. It is learnt that such groups had targeted waters off Kudat for their fish bombing activities.
“Based on information, they fish at our popular area. It is not (done) near the coastal area but in the open area. We are not sure how long they have been operating but they have been around for quite a while.
“They are not locals. We believe they are foreigners and that their vessels and boats are also registered outside (the country),” he said.
Speaking on the current level fish bombing activities in Sabah, Pang stressed the situation was quite rampant, adding most of the activities were done by small scale individuals.
“The Minister (Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun) has instructed us to take a holistic approach towards fish bombings.
“We need to give them option for better life and some of the things that we are looking at is (introducing them to) fish farming and tourism.
"The Minister is very concerned about it because he sees locals can participate more in tourism compared to what they are currently doing (fish bombing),” he said.
Pang also noted fish bombing activities by smaller groups at Pulau Mantanani off Kota Belud had dropped significantly since the World Wide Fund conducted continuous awareness programmes on the island for the past two years.
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