Kota Kinabalu: Five Vietnamese fishermen were fined a total of RM700,000 for illegally fishing in Malaysian waters.
They were skipper Huynh Cu, 54, crews Dang Van Ty, 38, Pham Van Thong, 31, Le Thanh Bao, 39, and Nguyen Thang Lam, 40.
All of them pleaded guilty separately before Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz.
The charge was read in Vietnamese.
Huynh was fined RM500,000 or four months’ jail while all the crews were ordered to pay a fine of RM50,000 in default three months’ jail each.
The fishermen were arrested at 4.31pm on July 4, this year inside a foreign vessel in Tanjung Kaitan waters, here for fishing in Malaysian waters without any permit from the Fisheries Department.
The offence under Section 15(1) of the Fisheries Act 1985 and punishable under Section 25(a) of the same Act read together under Section 34 of the Penal Code, on conviction, provides for a fine of up to RM6 million for the skipper, and RM600,000 for each crew member.
All the offenders asked for leniency and deportation as soon as possible.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurun Nazifah Muhammad Iyen urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the grounds that illegal fishing committed by foreign fishermen was rampant in the country especially in the waters of Sabah.
She said the offence involved public interest and also stressed the importance of marine habitat conservation.
All the crew were ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after paying their fines or serving their jail sentences.
The court ordered the boat and the equipment seized to be forfeited by the Government of Malaysia pursuant to Section 52(1)(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985.
