Fishermen fined, vessels seized

AROUND THE COURTS

TEN men were sentenced by the Magistrate's Court yesterday to a fine after pleading pleaded guilty to illegal fishing in Brunei waters last month.

The court also ordered the vessels used by the fishermen to be seized, to prevent other fishermen from committing the same offence.

The cases involved two fishing boats that were sighted by the Royal Brunei Navy vessel KDB Ijhtihad vessel on January 18. The court document states that the foreign fishing vessels were carrying out fishing activities within Brunei Darussalam waters.

KDB Ijhtihad proceeded to conduct surveillance on the shipping vessels for half an hour before a boarding team was deployed to conduct a search on the vessels.

During the search, it was discovered that there were five men onboard each of the fishing vessels, with fishing equipment and licences from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The boarding team also found catch onboard both of the fishing vessels.

On the boat bearing the registration number JN5415/2/F was shipmaster Binsari with his four crewmen, Mursidin Karani, Helmin Musali, Kembar Aspar and Romelson Salleh. Meanwhile, the boat with registration number JV49/18/2F had shipmaster Shamsudin Emlan and crew members Pigdito Piawa, Herman Tabbul, Ekel Maldani and Rosli Abraham onboard.

All of the men are stateless, except for Shamsudin who is a Malaysian national.

After the search was completed, the KDB Ijhtihad escorted the fishing vessels, together with the Masters and the crews, to the Marine Police Jetty for investigations.

During the proceedings yesterday, the shipmasters for each boat were sentenced to a fine of $5,000 in default of six months in jail while the crew members were each fined $500 in default of one month in jail.

The court further ordered for the shipping vessels, appliances and the fishing equipment to be forfeited to the state as the presiding judge agreed with the deputy public prosecutor's submission that it would serve as to deter other fishermen from committing the same offence in Brunei waters.

According to the court document, both fishing vessels are estimated to be valued at $3,000 each while the standby boat is valued at $850. The proceeds of the fish caught, amounting to $606, was also forfeited to the state. The Brunei Times