By Malcolm Lau
KUCHING, July 4: Three local fishing boats were detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) after they were caught for fishing illegally at Tanjung Po near here on Saturday night.
MMEA Sarawak state director First Admiral (Maritime) Robert Teh said 20 foreigners, aged between 28 to 56 years, from Thailand on the three boats were also detained.
“The arrest was made on Saturday night at 10.12pm when one of the maritime’s patrol teams spotted three local C2 class boats having fish netting activity under the prescribed distance which is 30 nautical miles.
“The 20 foreigners from Thailand on the three boats had been brought to Kompleks Tun Abang Salahuddin (Komtas) for further investigation,” he said in a statement here today.
According to Teh, all of the foreigners will be investigated under Section 8(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 as they had allegedly violated the license regulations.
“MMEA will not compromise with anyone who had violated the rules and regulations and we will continue our patrol at the sea to ensure that everyone abide the law,” he noted.
He pointed out that the public can share any information about any illegal fishing activities at sea by contacting the MMEA line at 082-432544. -DayakDaily
