Department of Fisheries Statement on Mabul Shark Killing Incident

Department of Fisheries Statement on Mabul Shark Killing Incident

When the pictures of shark killings in Mabul Sabah circulated on Facebook, many claimed the pictures are doctored and the pictures are fake. Many believes that such incident won’t happen in Malaysia and those pictures are purely lies. Well, on top of the major newspapers reports on the shark killing incidents, the Department of Fisheries Malaysia or Jabatan Perikanan Malaysia responded on their Facebook Page as below. We screen captured it from their Facebook Page.

The statement in Malay reads:

“MAKLUMBALAS TERHADAP DAKWAAN IKAN YU DIBUNUH UNTUK MENDAPATKAN SIRIP DI PULAU MABUL SABAH

Jabatan Perikanan Sabah telah membuat siasatan pada 19 Julai 2016 dan mendapati bahawa :

1. Dakwaan bahawa wujudnya aktiviti shark finning di Pulau Mabul adalah tidak benar.
2. Semua ikan yu yang tertangkap dibawa balik lengkap dengan semua sirip dan tiada badan ikan yu yang dibuang ke dalam laut.
3. Ikan-ikan tersebut dipotong di Pulau Mabul yang merupakan pangkalan pendaratan ikan dan kemudiannya dimasukkan ke dalam tong ikan untuk dibawa ke Semporna.
4. Semua bahagian badan ikan yu termasuk kulitnya digunakan oleh nelayan sama ada sebagai makanan atau diproses untuk kegunaan lain seperti giginya dijadikan cenderamata dan tulangnya untuk perubatan.
5. Ikan yu yang telah dibawa balik ke Pulau Mabul direndam/dibersihkan sementara menunggu proses pemotongan dijalankan.
6. Nelayan di Pulau Mabul menggunakan air laut untuk membersihkan ikan kerana kekurangan bekalan air tawar. Maka, proses pemotongan hanya dilakukan semasa air pasang sahaja
7. Tidak ada spesies yang tersenarai di bawah Peraturan-Peraturan Perikanan (Pengawalan Spesies Ikan Yang Terancam) 1999 (Pindaan 2008), Akta Perikanan 1985 dan Akta Perdagangan Antarabangsa Mengenai Spesies Terancam 2008 (Akta 686) didaratkan di Pulau Mabul.
8. Terdapat seramai 67 nelayan berlesen di Pulau Mabul yang menggunakan peralatan pancing dan rawai. Ikan yu bukanlah spesies sasaran utama dalam aktiviti menangkap ikan sebaliknya ia merupakan tangkapan sampingan (by-catch) dengan spesies-spesies ikan komersial yang lain secara tidak sengaja.
9. Jabatan Perikanan Sabah telah memasukkan ‘larangan aktiviti penyiripan ikan yu (shark finning) iaitu pemotongan atau pemilikan sirip ikan yu di atas vesel penangkapan ikan tempatan dan badan ikan yu dibuang ke laut’ sebagai syarat tambahan lesen dan peralatan menangkap ikan kepada nelayan berkuatkuasa pada 25 Februari 2014.

Sekian, harap maklum.” 

The translated version of the statement (thanks to Google Translate) is as follows:

RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS OF SHARKS KILLED FOR FINS in Mabul, Sabah

Sabah Fisheries Department has made an investigation on 19 July 2016 and found that:

1. The claim that the existence of shark finning activities in the island resort is not true.
2. All sharks caught and brought back complete with all fins and no shark’s body thrown into the sea.
3. The fishes are cut in Pulau Mabul which is the ‘landing base’ and the fishes are inserted into the fish barrels to be taken to Semporna.
4. All parts of the body including the skin of sharks are used by fishermen either as food or processed for other uses such as teeth and bones as gifts to medicine.
5. Fish shark that was brought back to Pulau Mabul are soaked / cleared pending the cutting process to be carried out.
6. Fishermen in Pulau Mabul use sea water to clean the fish because of the shortage of fresh water. Then, the cutting process is carried out during high tide only.
7. No species listed under the Fisheries Regulations (Control of Endangered Species) Act 1999 (Amendment 2008), the Fisheries Act 1985 and the International Trade in Endangered Species 2008 (Act 686) landed on the island of Mabul.
8. There were 67 licensed fishermen in Pulau Mabul using hook and line gear. The sharks are not the main target species in fishing activities and in contrary it is just by-catch with other commercial fish species accidentally.
9. Fisheries Department has included ‘prohibition of activities shark finning, namely the cutting or possession of shark fins on board fishing vessels at the local and the dumping of sharks bodies into the sea’ as an additional condition of license and fishing equipment for fishermen with effect from February 25, 2014.

Thank you.

Based on the statement from Department of Fisheries Malaysia or Jabatan Perikanan Malaysia, there are no shark finning happening when the pictures are taken in Mabul Sabah.

If want to see the pictures of the shark killings, you can read the story we did earlier at https://www.placesandfoods.com/2016/07/shocking-pictures-dead-sharks-mabul-sabah.html

Wilson Ng