Trespassing boats may get destroyed

Fishing vessel encroachment prompts defensive measures, protest note to Vietnam

JOHOR BARU: Malaysia, which will send a protest note to Vietnam over the encroachment by its fishermen into waters here, is not ruling out destroying wayward foreign fishing vessels.

This would be the government’s last course of action, especially if the crew on these boats behaved aggressively towards enforcement officers, said Agriculture and Agrobased Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub.

“If these foreign fishing vessels attempt to deliberately collide with our navy, then maybe destroying such vessels would be an option to consider,” he told reporters during the Johor Baru Fish Wholesaler Association’s 40th anniversary luncheon here yesterday.

Salahuddin said the government had already set up a multi-ministry taskforce, comprising representatives from his ministry and those from the Defence and Home portfolios, to deal with the encroachment of foreign fishing vessels.

“So far, through joint enforcement efforts, we have been able to decrease the presence of foreign fishing vessels within Malaysian waters,” he added.

In Kuantan, Bernama quoted Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah as saying that Malaysia would send a protest note to Vietnam on the encroachment by its fishermen into Malaysian waters.

He said the protest note would be issued soon and the government would request for an explanation from the Vietnam embassy in Malaysia.

“In cases involving the encroachment of our waters by foreign fishermen, the authorities will take action by chasing them out or confiscating their boats, depending on the agreement between the two countries.

“If the foreign fishermen are caught here, we will go by the procedures.

“We usually do not like to detain the boats for a long time and will hand them over once everything has been settled,” he told a press conference after presenting contributions to mosques and surau here yesterday.

He was commenting on media reports about two Vietnamese fishing boats believed to have encroached into Malaysian waters and detained by the Malaysian navy in the South China Sea.

Saifuddin said the government would also work towards getting back five local fishing boats that were detained in the Straits of Malacca by Indonesian authorities last year.

We usually do not like to detain the boats for a long time and will hand them over once everything has been settled.

Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah