TAWAU: Two Filipinos were jailed six months and fined RM15,000 or another five months behind bars for having 200kg various types of bombed fish.
Sessions Court Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud handed the sentence to Ajim Idris, 27, and Esco Agnoh, 22, after they pleaded guilty to the charge against them.
They were found of having the bombed fish, which were caught using explosives at 4.30pm on Feb 9 this year inside a boat near Kg Sum-Sum in Semporna.
The offence under Section 26(1)(c) of the Fisheries Act 1985 are punishable under Section 25(b) of the same Act read with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
For the offence, if the boat is a foreign-registered vessel or the person concerned is a foreign national, a fine of up to RM1 million could be imposed on the owner or shipmaster while for each crew, fine up to RM100,000, on conviction.
During mitigation, they asked for leniency.
Both of them were not represented.
However, Prosecuting Officer Laester Bulun of the Fisheries Department urged the court to impose an adequate sentence on the grounds that it was a serious offence against the environment as using explosive substances could harm marine life including human health.
He added that the sentence should reflect on the public interest as well as a lesson for would be offenders.
After serving jail sentence, they were ordered referred to the Immigration Department for deportation.
