(MY) jail for turtle thieves

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2007/04/12 - New Straits Times

18 months' jail for turtle thieves from China

E-mail : roygoh

By : Roy Goh

 

 

KOTA KINABALU: Seventeen fishermen from China were fined a total of

RM1.8 million for encroaching into Malay- sian waters and catching two

types of protected turtle species.

Magistrate Amran Jantan handed down the penalty after the fishing crew

from Hainan admitted to the three offences they committed in waters

near Pulau Mangalum off here on March 28.

 

All of them did not pay the fine and were jailed six months for each

of the offences, the sentences to run consecutively. They were on

board a China- registered fishing vessel when they were apprehended by

a team of marine policemen who were patrolling the area, about 32km

from the island, about 9.35pm that day.

 

On board the vessel, 224 turtles, including 20 live ones, were recovered.

 

In the same court, Amran also fined nine Vietnamese RM80,000 each in

default six months' jail for encroaching into Malaysian waters on

April 3.

All of them pleaded guilty to encroaching and fishing using longlines

(rawai) in waters about 140km off here.

 

Mohd Yusoff Anthony from the state Fisheries Department, who appeared

for the prosecution in both cases, called for stiff sentences as a

deterrent because there were similar cases of foreign fishing crew

caught in waters off Sabah in previous years.

 

He said a fishing vessel from China with 16 crew members was

intercepted and 163 dead turtles were found on board in 2004.

 

The following year nine Filipinos were apprehended catching turtles

and last year, two vessels from Vietnam were intercepted.

 

This year alone, the authorities caught four vessels, two from China

and two from Vietnam.

 

" We need to send a strong message to them because they only think of

profits and are not bothered by the laws of our country. We need to

impose stiffer fines as a deterrent in order to protect our country's

resources. "