For sale: Divers identified this rarely seen devil ray sold at the Semporna wet market recently. — Photo courtesy of Luma Duyung Semporna
KOTA KINABALU: The sharks sold at the Semporna wet market are not endangered species, based on an initial investigation by the Sabah Fisheries Department.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said a preliminary examination conducted by the department found that the sharks shown in the pictures shared on Facebook and reported by the media were not included in the list of endangered species.
Both the Bamboo Shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum) and the Horned Ray species featured in the pictures are not listed as endangered under the Fisheries Act 1985, he added.
Kitingan said there were about 10 types of stingrays from the Mobula genus listed as endangered species under Malaysia’s International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008.
There are currently 147 shark and stingray species found in Malaysian waters, including Sabah.
“Thirteen species are listed as endangered under the Fisheries Act 1985 (Endangered Species Control Regulations 1999) and the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, which cannot be caught and exported,” he said.
Kitingan was responding to the posting of the pictures, which had led to Sabah Dive Squad Club president Sim Fui urging the government to put in place a total hunting ban on all shark species in the state to protect the marine animals as it was a key attraction for diving tourism in Semporna waters.
The diving paradise of Pulau Sipadan is located within the Semporna waters.
Sabah Fisheries Department, added Kitingan, had never allowed sharks and stingrays, including those listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, to be exported.
Kitingan, who is the state Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister, said the department had always taken the necessary and appropriate steps to protect endangered fish species through the enforcement of the Fisheries Act 1985 and the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008.
He said, among others, that it had never approved a special licence for any vessel to catch sharks.
The department, he said, had also included a “shark finning activity ban”, which was the cutting or possession of shark fins on fishing vessels, as an additional condition for licences and fishing equipment since Feb 25, 2014.
Offences and violations under the Fisheries Act 1985 (Control of Endangered Fish Species 1999) may be subjected to a fine of up to RM20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
The fines and jail terms are also more severe under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008, which can see individuals being fined RM100,000 per animal or species, imprisoned for not more than seven years, or both.
Companies can be fined between RM200,000 and RM2mil for each animal or species under the Act.
Kitingan said the Fisheries Department had carried out 117 operations so far this year at markets to monitor the sale of fish caught using explosives as well as those prohibited from sale.
However, he said operations at the Semporna wet market yesterday confirmed that, as a whole, there was no sale of fish classified as endangered under the Fisheries Act 1985 and the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008.
