MMEA thwarts fish bombing in waters off Kota Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Two fish bombing suspects abandoned their boat and dived into the sea as the Coast Guard closed in on them in waters off the state capital here.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sabah and Labuan director First Admiral Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdullah said a patrol on routine operations spotted an unregistered pump boat operating suspiciously 0.13 nautical miles west of Tanjung Wokong in the Sepanggar area here at about 11pm on Thursday (Dec 23).

"Noticing the presence of our patrol boat, two suspects dived into the sea and swam to shore to avoid being checked and detained," he said in a statement on Friday (Dec 24).

He said MMEA personnel found several fuses, matchboxes and other items used for fish bombing on the abandoned boat, adding that the internal organs of fish found on the boat were severely damaged due to suspected explosions.

Mohd Rosli said the MMEA then seized the pump boat, fish catch and fish bombing equipment and took everything back to its base at Sepanggar for further investigation.

He added that the MMEA would continue to act against those carrying out fish bombing activities in Sabah and Labuan waters.

Mohd Rosli said that under Section 26 of the Fisheries Act 1985, any Malaysian caught catching fish using explosives or poisons among others could be fined RM20,000 or jailed up to two years, or both.

For foreigners, the skipper could be fined up to RM6mil and each crew member can be fined a maximum of RM600,000.