IPOH: The Perak Fisheries Department seized 14 fishing vessels, estimated at RM8.9mil, for various violations under the Fisheries Act 1985.
The department reported that this was part of its Integrated Operation for the Central Zone Fishing Vessel Monitoring and Surveillance Programme, Series 3, organised by the Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Unit of Kampung Acheh, in collaboration with the Conservation and Fisheries Protection Division of Putrajaya.
The operation carried out from Dec 9 to 13, involved 30 personnel and five sea assets from the Fisheries Conservation and Protection Branch of Kampung Acheh and Kuala Kurau, the department said in a statement yesterday.
“The seized items were one trawl net vessel, nine bottom trawl vessels, two fish aggregation device vessels, and two ‘rawa surong’ vessels,” read the statement.
The offences included using local fishing vessels without a licence, employing foreign crew without the permission of the Fisheries director-general, fishing within 15 nautical miles of the zone, and failing to activate the vessel’s tracking device while operating, Bernama reported.
“The detained vessels were brought to the Kampung Acheh base in Sitiawan for further investigation,” the statement read.
