KUALA NERUS, June 22 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has scuttled 446 foreign fishing vessels forfeited by the courts since 2008 till today, with a total value of RM1.7 billion.
Its deputy director-general (administration) Khairul Anwar Bachok said the vessels, 95 per cent of them from Vietnam and the remaining from Thailand, were seized for offences under Section 15(1) and Section 16(3) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for illegal fishing.
"The vessels were disposed of via scuttling conducted by the MMEA in Malaysian waters, including in Perak, Melaka, Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak, based on the court orders.
"The vessels were disposed of with the assistance of the Fisheries Department, the Marine Department and the South East Asian Marine Resources Institute,” he told the media after attending the scuttling of three Vietnamese vessels in the waters of Pulau Bidong, earlier today.
Khairul Anwar said the waters of the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia were directly bordering that of Vietnam, allowing foreign fishermen from that country to enter illegally into Malaysian waters.
Due to this, Terengganu has the most vessel seizures, with 159 vessels scuttled to act as artificial reefs and seven already scuttled this year by the MMEA at the cost of RM239 million, with another 20 more boats due to be disposed of as soon as the courts ordered their forfeiture.
— Bernama
