KOTA KINABALU: The federal government has been urged to take stern action against Vietnamese and other foreign fishing vessels that are found to continuously encroach into Malaysian waters, especially Sabah waters.
An emergency motion was submitted by Sandakan MP Stephen Wong, to the Speaker of Parliament, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin, yesterday, urging the government to act immediately to address this issue.
In a statement released here yesterday, Wong said the encroachment by foreign fishing vessels into Malaysian waters should be viewed as a ‘national crisis’ as the country’s sovereignty and security is at stake.
“Therefore, the MMEA (Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency) must carry out strict enforcement now not only to protect our borders but to also safeguard our sovereignty,” he reiterated.
Wong also expressed his concerns over the fate of marine and coral life in Sabah waters as these have been severely destroyed and depleted due to illegal fishing methods used by these foreign fishing vessels.
According to reports by a few international organizations, such as the WWF, the problem of overfishing in Sabah waters has reached a critical stage now that would require immediate action to be taken.
According to Wong, Vietnamese vessels were reportedly seen carrying out dragnet fishing using two boats in Sabah waters. This method is illegal and very destructive to marine coral ecosystem.
It has also been reported that overfishing had caused the prices of seafood to rise by 60 percent and compounded by a reduction of 40 percent of fish catches in Sabah.
At a press conference at Parliament House yesterday morning attended by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Wong called on the minister, who in charge of the MMEA portfolio, to play a proactive role to tackle this issue and also expressed the hope that the Speaker would accept his motion to debate this important matter in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu MP Jimmy Wong who was present at the press conference, said the encroachment by illegal foreign fishing vessels had caused a serious reduction in fish supply in Sabah, and it has been reported that seafood prices had risen up to 60 percent due to falling catches in Sabah waters.
“I would like to urge the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato Seri Shahidan Kassim, as the minister responsible for the federal agency MMEA to act immediately against foreign fishing vessels that had repeatedly encroached into Malaysian waters, especially the waters of Sabah.
“I would like to echo Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, who was reported to have said that we (Malaysia) have to be stern because foreign fishing trawlers are robbing the nation of its sea resources and his commitment on barring foreign fishing vessels.
“Hence, I want the minister to take stern action against these illegal fishermen who had violated our local laws.
“These vessels, mainly from Vietnam, are using illegal methods to catch the fish in our deep sea.
“Despite some of them having been granted deep sea licences by our government, the method they use is illegal and have caused huge detrimental impact on Malaysia’s marine and coral life and the entire environment,” he said.
According to Jimmy, it was reported that their fishing method used was using long liners, however, various incidents have proven that they had carried out dragnet fishing using two fishing boats, which is illegal and destructive.
He emphasized that it is very much about our sovereignty and security.
“We simply cannot allow these foreign fishing vessels to enter our waters and use such a destructive method to catch fish. It would destroy our marine life and the entire environment,” he stressed.
“Since these foreign vessels are seen to be ‘legal’ because they are working with local interests, I would like to urge the minister to investigate deeply into this matter to find out if any wrongdoing had taken place.
“Lastly, I must stress that the authority must stop giving out and approving licences to these foreign fishing vessels’ owners and to take serious steps to protect our borders, sovereignty and depleting fish products,” he said.