NcwStraitsTimcs.MONDAY,MAY20,2019
NEWS /Nation
8
丨:丄: 辭..彳:-巧ENCROACHMENT BY FISHERMEN
REASONS FOR VIETNAMESE
SURGE
i
namesefishermentotrespasson Malaysian waters to plunder some RM6 billion inmarine re-:
Limited security patrols, damage to Vietnamese seabed among factors
sourcesayear.
Theworstpartwasthatthe il
legal fishermen used dragnets, thatdestroythepricelessmarine ecosystemincludingcorals.
Vietnam’sfishingindustryem
ploysmorethan4.5millionpeo
ple and is the world’s fourth largestexporteroffishafterChi
na,NorwayandThailand.
TheVietnameseAssociationof encroach on Malaysian SeafoodExportersandProducers waterspartlybecauseit (Vasep) reported thatthe coun
is less stringently po- try’s catch amounted to US$10 醒―--- ^ 」 . .
billion(RM41billion)ayear. AMalaysiaMarineParksDepartmentdivercuttingafishingnetthatcancausedamagetocoralsonthe Former Maritime Institute of seabedinwatersoffBesut, Terengganu,lastyear.(Inset)RetiredFirstAdmiralDatukChinYoonChin.
:—v
:，'.鉍.•
ADRIANDAVID KUALALUMPUR
V.
'IETNAMESE trawlers
㉞:
3^ 一
Iiced compared with the aroundtheParacelsandSpratlys
archipelago, where Chinese Malaysia(Mima)director-general retiredFirstAdmiralDatukChin
sea FILE
PIC
forceshaveastrongpresence. --- ^ ^
Vietnamesefishermenarealso YoonChinsaidthereweremore bluefin.tuna was sold for US$3 andfoodsecurityof12countries ness, saidChin, venturing further out into the than80,000trawlersoperatedby millioninJapan. andterritoriesitborders.”
open sea after over-harvesting, Vietnamesefishermen. “Theextractionofthisnatural Chin added that since 1998，from where the Vietnamese dredgingand the buildingofar- “Their favourite catch are the resourceinthe SouthChinaSea Vietnamhad offeredUS$65mil- trawlersoperated,
tificialislands haddamaged160 expensive bluefin tuna and has been the causeofmany in- lion ineconomicincentives and However,only sevencouldac- sqkmoftheircountry’sseabed. equallyhigh-pricedyellowfintu- ternationalspatsrecently. preferentialloanstoitsoffshore commodate large vessels Afisheriesindustryexpertsaid na. Other popular ones are “Theareaisbiologicallydiverse fishermento upgrade theirves- equippedwith400hpengines— poachinghadalsoresultedinthe grouper,squid,cocklesandshell- andhometo3,365speciesoffish, sels with powerful engines and Lach Bang and Lach Hoi in depletionofVietnam’sfishstock fish,crabs,shrimps,snapper,lob- It is also one of the five most modernequipment. .ThanhHoaprovince；CuaHoiin byasmuchas70percentoverthe sters，oystersandbabysharks.” productive fishing zones in the “Private businesses and for- NgheAn province； Xuan Phoin past20years ABluefintunareportedlysells worldwithregardtototalannual eign-invested businesses linked HaTinhprovince； SongGianhin FisheriesDepartmentdirector- for US$200 per kg, while yel- marineproduction. to Vasep are also given tax re- QuangBinhprovince； ConCoin generalDatukMunirMohdNawi lowfin tuna can fetch US$8 per “It helpsthe coastal economy ductions during the first three QuangTri province； and Thuan said these had caused theViet- kg. Earlier this year, a 277.6kg andiscrucialfortheexporttrade years of offshore fisheries busi- PhuocinDaNangprovince.
He said there were 31 ports