Authorities on the hunt for fishermen who used blast fishing off Pulau Gaya

KOTA KINABALU: The action of five men jumping into the sea to escape the authorities led to the discovery of 150kg of fish and items used to make explosives.

The five men were in a boat near Pulau Gayawhen marine officials noticed their presence at about 12.30am, Monday (Jan 10).

"When our men approached the boat, the suspects jumped into the sea and swam off to a nearby shore before disappearing into the night," said Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency director for Sabah and Labuan, First Admiral Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdullah.

He said an inspection of the boat led to the finding of items believed to be used to make explosives for blast fishing, as well as various types of fish weighing about 150kg.

"A forensic test on some of the fish found that their insides were crushed," he said.

Rosli said these were consistent with fish caught via blast sighing.

He said a manhunt was on for the suspects while the items including the boat had been seized.

He reminded the maritime community to refrain from using illegal fishing methods including utilising explosives, as such methods were life threatening as well as detrimental to marine life and coral reefs.

There had been reports of injuries and deaths due to suspected blast fishing over the years in Sabah, with the more recent one being the deaths of three people in Semporna three years ago.

The victims - IMM13 holder Ab Zainal Abdu (dive instructor), 30, and two Chinese nationals – Zhao Zhong, 26, and Xu Yingjie, 26 – were killed in waters off Pulau Kalapuan, Semporna, on July 5, 2019.

No one was convicted with regards to this case due to lack of concrete evidence, among other reasons.