KUCHING: A Vietnamese boat captain was fined RM1 million or six months’ imprisonment by the Sessions Court here yesterday after pleading guilty to the charge of trespassing into the country’s waters on February 4.
Meanwhile, 10 other crew members of the boat were each fined RM200,000 or sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charge before Judge Musli Abdul Hamid.
According to the charge, all fishermen aged between 22 and 58 failed to inform authorities via radio, telex, or fax in Malay or English about the name, flag, location, quantity of fish caught, route and destination, as well as the condition of the boat entering Malaysian waters.
They committed the offence 213.8 nautical miles from Tanjung Sirik, Sarawak, which is Malaysian fishing grounds, around 10:45 am on February 4.
Therefore, the captain and the boat crew were charged under Subsection 16(3) of the Fisheries Act 1985 read together with Section 24 of the same Act and can be punished under Paragraph 25(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985.
During the incident, a Maritime Enforcement team conducting Ops Raja Laut and Ops Khas Naga Timur spotted a suspicious boat entering Malaysian waters and approached the vessel.
All the boats involved were then detained and escorted to the APMM Kuching jetty for further investigation, and a police report was made regarding the arrests.
The items seized included a boat, boat engine, GPS, solar panel, radio, compass, satellite phone, trawl net, and 500 kilograms of fish.
The investigation, based on a report from the Malaysian Fisheries Department, confirmed that the boat catching the fish was not recorded in the Malaysian Fisheries Vessel record besides failing to inform any authorised officers prior to entering Malaysian waters.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Maritime Prosecutor Yong Ann Nee while all defendants were represented by Lawyer Adin Linton.
