A Malaysian court yesterday jailed a group of 13 Chinese fishermen for 18 months each for poaching nearly 80 protected turtles, officials said.

They were the second group of fishermen from China's Hainan island jailed this week for turtle poaching off the waters of Malaysia's eastern Sabah state, with 17 men sentenced on Wednesday for catching 274 of the creatures.

Mohamad Yusoff Anthony, the prosecutor in the case for Sabah's fisheries department, said a magistrate's court had jailed the 13 for the three offences of poaching two protected turtle species, and encroaching on Malaysian waters.

The captain of the Chinese-registered trawler was fined RM508,000 (US$147,182) and each of the crew RM86,000 but they chose instead to serve the six-month terms for each of the offences, he said.

"They said they feel so sorry and they want to go home as soon as possible to look after their families," said Mohamad Yusoff.

The 13 Chinese were part of an original group of 19 captured by marine police on March 26 with 47 Green turtles and 29 Hawksbill turtles. All but five of the turtles were left alive.

Lucrative trade

Mohamad Yusoff said four men had been released because there was no evidence of poaching, while two boys aged 16 years old and considered juveniles, would be deported.

"Both of them will be sent home immediately," he told AFP.

Despite the jail terms, Mohamad Yusoff said he expected more poachers because of the lucrative trade in the endangered turtles for their meat and for use in traditional medicines, citing confessions from the earlier group of 17.

"They said they came here together with almost 10 boats or vessels, but the police managed to apprehend only two boats," he said.

"According to them, they can sell each turtle for US$1,000, so you can imagine how much (they make) with more than 200," he said.

China is a major importer of turtles from Asia for food and medicinal purposes, and aggressive poaching in Southeast Asian countries has seen sea turtle numbers falling.

The World Conservation Union lists the Hawksbill turtle as critically endangered, while the Green turtle is also endangered.