MIRI: A local fishing boat with five local crew members on onboard was seized on Friday afternoon by the Miri Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for fishing too close to the beach in Tanjung Payung.
The boat was spotted and detained at about eight nautical miles North West from the area around 1pm.
Also seized from the boat were 300kg fish of various species, disclosed Miri MMEA director Captain Md Fauzi Othman.
“Our patrol vessel spotted and approached the fishing boat for suspicious activity around 1pm on that day,” he said in a statement.
He added that the boat was seized for breaking regulation under Section 8 (b) of the Fisheries Act 1985, which is fishing less than 12 nautical miles from the beach.
The boat and the crew members aged 26 to 55 have been brought to Pulau Melayu jetty detention centre for further investigation.
