Strict punishments to violations of fishing vessels captured by foreign forces

According to MARD, since the beginning of this year, about 32 cases of violations by 52 ships and 453 fishermen have been captured by foreign countries of which Malaysian forces have seized 23 cases of 38 ships and 367 fishermen. The localities where fishing boats and fishermen have been arrested a lot are Kien Giang (09 cases/13 ships/114 fishermen), Ca Mau (04 cases/08 ships/28 fishermen with the number of arrested still continuing to be verified), Binh Dinh (04 cases/06 ships/38 fishermen with an attached appendix). In addition, 7 more cases of 11 fishing boats and 122 fishermen are waiting for verification with a suspect that they are from Kien Giang and Ca Mau provinces.

In particular, a number of serious violations among fishing vessels have recently been discovered including the use of fake names and registration. The most recent cases occurred to 4 Vietnamese fishing boats named BOY05, BOY06, BOY08 and BOY12 after being captured by Malaysian forces  for illegally exploiting in Malaysian waters on March 31, 2022.

Through checking certificates of registration presented by the captains of the arrested ships, Malaysian authorities determined that the 4 fishing boats were from Ca Mau as being shown in the paper as CM-93000-TS, CM-96888-TS, CM-94777-TS, and CM-93111-TS.

For the cases about opposition to law enforcement forces, on April 11, 2022, one among 20 fishermen on board KG - 93702 - TS detained by Malaysian authorities was put under criminal investigation for not cooperating, having acted violently, and causing injury to 1 of the foreign officers.

On April 22, 2022, fishing boat CM 93839 TS was also seized by Malaysian authorities with 1 fisherman to be criminally investigated for not-cooperating with oppositional behavior, and injuring one of the Malaysian officers.

To prevent and stop fishing boats and fishermen from violating foreign waters, MARD proposed Chairmen of the People's Committees of Binh Dinh, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau direct the provincial police agencies and border guards to conduct investigations, verify and strictly punish individuals, organizations and brokers who have put such fishing boats and fishermen into the situation and other related cases. The ministry also requested the provincial authorities to report the results to the MARD and the National Steering Committee on IUU before June 6.