TUMPAT: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) today sunk four Vietnamese fishing boats in the waters off Tumpat here.
Pahang MMEA director Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Omar said the disposal of the ships was to send a message to the local and international community that MMEA was serious in fighting the intrusion of foreign fishermen into Malaysian waters.
Zulkarnain said the Class C2 boats, all from Vietnam and estimated worth RM4 million, were seized in the waters off Terengganu and Kelantan between 2014 and 2018.
“The boats that were sunk would be turned into artificial reefs. This method can promote marine biodiversity which in turn will benefit marine life with a better breeding rate for fish especially in the country’s waters,” he told a media conference here today.
He said to date, 331 foreign and local fishing boats hade been turned into artificial reefs, with 320 of them in the east coast, including 157 in Kelantan.
Since 2006, a total of 1,198 foreign fishing boats were seized and 10,039 crew were detained, most of whom were Vietnamese and Indonesian nationals. — Bernama
