Foreign trawler shot at us, claim local fishermen
The latest incident on the high seas off Miri, Sarawak during which local fishermen were allegedly shot at by a foreign trawler is likely to further infuriate the local fishing community.
The violence is likely to further spur local fishermen to take the authorities to task for their issuance of licenses to operators of foreign fishing vessels.
The incident was reported to have taken place last week some 30 nautical miles off the Miri coast in northern Sarawak.
Miri police have confirmed receiving the reports from the local fishermen claiming they were shot at by armed men.
The shooting occurred following an argument over entangled nets between the local fishermen and those aboard a Thai chartered trawler.
According to the reports, the Thai trawler had radioed other Thai trawlers in the vicinity resulting in eight other foreign vessels arriving at the scene. Armed men aboard one of the trawlers opened fire on the locals.
No injuries were reported. Marine police have been placed on alert following a police report lodged by the fishermen.
Strong protests
Bintulu marine police commander ASP Marzuki Ismail said police were searching for the fishing vessels involved despite rough sea conditions."Normally, they will not go far .We will try and find out what actually happened," he said.
The Malaysian government has issued 112 licences up to November last year allowing foreign fishing vessels to engage in deep-sea fishing 30 nautical miles off the Sarawak coast.
Local fishermen have strongly protested the move claiming that besides contributing to the depletion of marine resources off the Sarawak coast, it was also affecting their livelihood.
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