MERSING: The Fisheries Department has seized two boats with 1.5 tonnes of fish for illegal fishing.

       Johor Fisheries Department director Zainudin Abd Wahab said a routine patrol at Taman Laut here found the first fishing boat at around 2.30am followed by the second one at 3.45am on Thursday (Sept 9).

       "One of the boats was fishing at a location below 12 nautical miles (around 22.2km) from shore while the other one was fishing out of the permitted hours as stipulated in their respective fishing licences.

       Johor Fisheries Department personnel determining the distance of the boats from shore.

       "We have detained the boats and about 1,500kg of fish in total for investigation under Section 8(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985," he said, adding that six people on both boats, aged 31 to 55 years old, were also arrested.

       The patrol was part of the department's and Taman Laut enforcement unit’s monitoring, control and surveillance efforts, he said.

       He urged the fishing community to comply with the Fisheries Act 1985 in order to safeguard the country’s fishery resources and avoid getting into trouble with the law.