KUCHING: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained another Vietnamese fishing boat for illegal fishing in Sarawak waters on Wednesday.
The arrest brought the total number of Vietnamese fishermen detained for encroaching and unauthorised fishing in Sarawak waters since early this year to 22 cases.
Kuching MMEA Maritime District director, Capt Shahref Steve Mac Queen Abdullah said in the latest case, MMEA arrested the skipper and seven crew, aged between 18 and 49 years, from Vietnam after checking the boat at about 48 nautical miles west of Tanjung Sirik, at about 4.20pm on Wednesday.
“They were found catching fish using longline fishing (rawai). There were 1,000 kg of fish in the boat. All of them are being investigated under Fisheries Act 1985,” he told a press conference at the Tun Abang Salahuddin Maritime Complex (KOMTAS) jetty here yesterday.
For the record, during a press conference last month, Sarawak MMEA informed that there were only 14 cases of Vietnamese fishing boats found encroaching in Sarawak waters last year.
