Fish bombing mostly carried out by minors, Sabah minister says again

Equipment confiscated by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency believed to be used in fish bombing. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Junz Wong has defended his previous statement that most fish bombings in the state are committed by minors.

This comes after he was ridiculed on social media for his earlier remarks.

Wong said he based his statement on reports and research by experts.

“I didn’t believe it at first but there is a lot of basis to these findings – those who are 18 years old and below are committing fish bombing.

“We are working closely with the marine police and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to enforce the law,” he said.

Wong had said recently that most fish bombing incidents were carried out by children when asked to comment on a fish bombing incident in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, off the city, that took place last week.

A group of foreign divers was left in fear after experiencing the shockwaves of an underwater blast off Pulau Gaya, about 15 minutes’ boat ride from here.

Wong said arresting minors would be a challenge. However, he said, it was possible they were manipulated by certain parties to carry out the fish bombing.

The Tanjung Aru assemblyman said he was simply presenting another side to the issue that the public might not be aware of, adding that it was important to understand the situation before a solution could be found.

“I’m saying we need a holistic approach to resolve this long-standing issue by tackling the social-economic problems of the fishermen.

“I can accept criticism but be constructive.”

Wong said the state had started working closely with the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) to realise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 14 (sustainability below the water).

He said the move was initiated after the bombing incident that killed a local divemaster and two China divers in Semporna in July last year.

“Sabah fish stocks are decreasing in many areas – they are already low in 90% of the 30 areas surveyed. The reasons include overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” he said.

He added that a report by Escap said the IUU category includes destructive fishing like electric trawl, muro-ami and blast fishing. Much of the decline has been attributed to fish bombing.

Wong said published researches, carried out over the last five years in Sabah indicated, however, that fish bombing rates had dropped significantly and continue to do so throughout the state.

“But nonetheless recreational scuba divers still hear the occasional blast and several incidents between blasters and divers have been reported recently,” he said.

The Escap report said that what was badly needed was a concise plan aimed at aquaculture to curb demand for wild edible marine life and a programme to restock natural marine life populations.

Wong said the state’s Fisheries Department had written to Escap to state its willingness towards realising the SDG14 and to work with non-governmental organisation Reef Defenders.

He said doing this would put Sabah on the map with regards to their efforts in having sustainable fisheries. - FMT