By Balqis Jazimah Zahari
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Malaysian Maritime) through the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone seized 52 units of dragon nets at a position 10.2 nautical miles southwest of the Kuala Kurau estuary at about 3.15 pm yesterday.
Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Director, Maritime Commander Mohd Najhan Azman Hamid said, during a routine patrol in the waters of Kerian and Larut Matang, Maritime Malaysia detected a suspicious flag and a suspected marker for a dragon trap.
“The results of the inspection of the flag found that 52 units of dragon traps were in the area involved.
“All the dragon traps were seized and taken to the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Jetty for further action,” he said.
He said, the estimated value of the dragon traps seized this time amounted to RM3,640 with a value of RM70 per unit.
He said the case was investigated under Section 11 (3) (c) of the Fisheries Act 1985, which is to install or cause to be installed any fish splints, fishing equipment or fish gathering devices without written permission from Ketua Pengarah Perikanan Malaysia.
In a separate development, Mohd Najhan said, last Friday a local class B trawler fishing boat with two Myanmarese foreign crew was arrested at a position 12.9 nautical miles west of the Kuala Terong estuary at 2.15pm.
According to him, the boat was spotted doing fishing activities before being approached for inspection.
“As a result of the inspection, there were two Myanmar foreign crews aged 27 and 38 years including ‘tekong’ who did not have identification documents.
” However, the boat has a valid licence but is not operated by the owner himself.
“Approximately 100 kilograms of small shrimp were found on the boat during the arrest,” he said.
He said the crew was arrested and the boat and fishing equipment were taken to the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Jetty for further action.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for staying in Malaysia without a valid identity document and Section 8 (b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for violating the legal conditions of the licence, which is the boat is not operated by the owner himself.
