SEMPORNA: Fish bombing incidents off Semporna's waters have dropped significantly since June this year, but this is no time for complacency and all stakeholders need to get involved in protecting the area's rich biodiversity, says an anti-fish bombing campaigner.
"The number of fish bombings detected in the area of coverage of our sensors has been decreasing month-to-month and is now reduced up to 85 per cent," Stop Fish Bombing Malaysia (SFB) Executive Director Terence Lim said.
SFB is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that uses underwater detection technology to support authorities in the fight to eradicate illegal fishing practices that destroy coral reefs and marine life in the waters off Malaysia's Sabah state, which includes a massive marine park.
"However, we are still getting reports of fish bombs that are not in the coverage of our sensors," Lim said.
Since 2019, SFB has deployed underwater bomb detection sensors that cover a surveillance area of up to 100 square kilometers in the waters off Sabah, including South Tun Sakaran Marine Park and North Mabul island off Semporna.
He could not reveal the number of sensors due to safety and security reasons.
The acoustic arrays can detect the precise location of underwater blasts and provide real-time and exact coordinates to help law enforcement agencies respond rapidly to an incident.
He added more financial support would allow SFB to widen its surveillance areas and also salvage sensors damaged from blasting.
With the data, Lim said SFB had at least six of the detections that had led to arrests.
"One of them was with fish bomb apparatus. The others were only found with fish and were referred to the Fisheries department."
Since 2015, some 53 fish bombing cases have been prosecuted and 15,706.56 kilograms of fish confiscated, according to Sabah Fisheries Department.
Fish bombing is a criminal offense punishable under Section 8 of the Explosives Act 1957 which provides for a maximum imprisonment of seven years or a fine of RM10,000 or both if convicted.
Lim said after the Covid-19 Movement Control Order was lifted in April, stakeholders managed to bring down the number of fish bombing by providing real-time and exact coordinates to enforcement agencies for further actions.
"We would like to thank the Semporna marine police, district police chief superintendent Farhan Lee Abdullah, and the 14th Battalion General Operations Force.
"Without them going out and responding to incidents, we will not be able to reduce the fish bombing incidents," he said, adding SFB has been providing info in a Whatsapp group which other agencies such as Sabah Parks, Fisheries department, WWF-Malaysia among others.
Lim said fish bombing is a security threat, but law enforcement agencies have other priorities, such as fighting cross-border crime as the country re-opened after Covid.
"Therefore, it is crucial for others such as diving, resort operators and maritime communities to work together in reducing the fish bombing incidents," Lim said.
Lim said blast fishing may never be completely eliminated, but he and other stakeholders are continuing the fight one case at a time.
Lim, an avid diver with a long career in Sabah's marine tourism industry, said a single blast can have devastating impacts on the marine ecosystem.
The shockwave, heat and chemicals released by an explosion harms small fish, the eggs of marine animals, and threatens even the tiniest species, such as plankton, and eventually deplete an important food stock for local communities and the country.
"With our technology to detect real-time fish bombing, we now need additional funding to extend the coverage of the sensor to better protect our marine ecosystem."