KUANTAN: Sixty-eight foreign trawlers were detained by the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) last year for poaching off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the Pahang state assembly was told yesterday.Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said the skippers and crew of the 52 Vietnamese-owned vessels and 16 Thai-owned boats pleaded guilty in court to the offence and were fined between RM30,000 and RM650,000.
“However, they could not pay the fines and were jailed for between three and six months and their boats were seized,” he said when replying to a question from Choong Siew Onn (DAP-Tras) who had wanted to know of government action against poachers.
Adnan also said up to March 25 this year, the MMEA detained 14 foreign boats, 12 of them Vietnamese-owned and two Thai-owned.
Replying to a question from Syed Mohammed Tuan Lonnik (PAS-Beserah), he said it was needless to amend the Fisheries Act to redesignate fishing zones for coastal and offshore fishermen. — Bernama