KOTA KINABALU: Two fishermen were each sentenced to eight months' jail and fined RM5,000 in default six-months' jail for having 100kg of fish caught through fish bombing.
Jolhin Sanaut, 48, and Majjad Bani, 61, pleaded guilty before judge Elsie Primus to their joint charge under Section 26(1)(c) of the Fisheries Act 1985, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
The offence is punishable under Section 25(b) of the Fisheries Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM20,000 or a jail term of up to two years or both, upon conviction.
The two were arrested for committing the offence in a pump boat on Aug 4 at 3.15pm near Pulau Mengalum here.
The facts of the case stated that they were arrested during an operation.
The court was told that some 100kg of fish were believed to have been caught using explosives found inside the seized pump boat.
Samples of fish were taken for tests, and the results confirmed that the fish was caught through blast fishing.
In mitigation, the accused who were unrepresented asked for leniency, saying that they had family members who depended on them.
Jolhin has four children while Majjad has six.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Risal Abd Fikkah from the Sabah and Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), urged for a deterrent sentence saying that fish bombing activities were a serious offence.
He also informed the court that the seized boat belonged to another person and asked for the boat to be returned to the rightful owner.
The court then ordered the boat to be returned to the registered owner, while all equipment and items seized during the incident were forfeited.
Majjad, who is a foreigner, will be referred to the Immigration Department for further action after serving his sentence.
