GEORGE TOWN: A fishing vessel with 100kg of fresh catch on board has been seized by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for allegedly fishing in a prohibited zone.

       Penang MMEA director Capt Abd Razak Mohamed said the boat was seized at about 10.30pm on Thursday (May 19) during an Ops Pertiwi/Ops Benteng patrol which detected a boat suspected of fishing using trawlers 5.6 nautical miles south-east of Pulau Kendi.

       "Inspection of the boat found that the B1 class vessel, based in Teluk Bahang, was manned by three locals aged 45 to 53, including the captain.

       "We also found a Thai national with permanent resident status aged 60 on board," he said.

       Further checks found that the vessel's crew had committed an offence under Section 8(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for breaching its fishing licence.

       Capt Abd Razak said the boat and the four crew members, as well as their catch, were taken to the Batu Uban marine police jetty for investigation.

       In a separate case, Capt Abd Razak said Penang MMEA also stopped a C-class local boat on Tuesday (May 17) for a similar offence.

       He urged the fishing community to comply with the Fisheries Act so as to safeguard the country’s fishery resources and also to avoid getting in trouble with the law.