Juvenile deported, rest of crew jailed, Skipper pays fine

Juvenile deported, rest of crew jailed, Skipper pays fine: KUCHING: The skipper of a Vietnamese fishing trawler pleaded guilty yesterday, in the Magistrate’s Court for encroachment into Malaysian waters.
He was fined RM600,000 in default three months’ imprisonment.
Presiding magistrate Portia Tham Ong Leng, who made the ruling yesterday, also sentenced the crew members aged 15 to 54 to a RM30,000 fine, in default three months’ imprisonment.
The court also ordered a juvenile to be immediately deported to his homeland through the Immigration Department.]
They were charged with fishing in Malaysian waters without permit aboard the trawler bearing registration number SF2-3639.
The trawler was intercepted at about 180 nautical miles from Tanjung Po in Muara Tebas at about 8.45pm on Dec 7.


They were charged under Section 15(1)(a) of the Fisheries Act 1985, which carries a maximum fine of RM1 million for the skipper and RM100,000 for each crew member or imprisonment up to six months upon conviction.

The skipper settled the RM600,000 fine but the rest of the crew were unable to pay their fines so had to serve time in prison before being deported.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the fishing trawler and 2,500kg of fish in them. DPP Iswa prosecuted.

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