The number of foreign fishing vessels trespassing into the Brunei waters has increased. This has caused great losses in tuna fisheries resources worth millions of dollars to the country.
Dato Awang Haji Idris bin Haji Belaman, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources said this at the launching of a new Patrol Vessel of the Fisheries Department, KP Lamading earlier this week.
Dato Awang Haji Idris said that the Fisheries Department's statistics for ten years up to last year showed that 443 foreign fishing vessels had trespassed into the Brunei waters and 39 of these were brought to court. He said that with the declaration of Brunei Fishing zone limits up to 200 miles offshore, the fishing area has therefore stretched out to 26,000 square miles. He also noted that the value of captured fish in the country was estimated at $112 million per year.
Towards expanding and developing the fishing industry, various plans had been implemented while at the same time encouraged joint venture projects with foreign companies in exploring the existing potential where tuna is found in abundance.
The new patrol vessel, which costs more than $1 million, is hoped to improve the enforcement and fisheries regulations in the country. Measuring 21 meters in length, the vessel has the maximum speed of 30 knots. It was built in Hong Kong last November and was fully completed two months ago and arrived in the country early last month.
The Fisheries Department currently has three patrol vessels including the KP Lamading. With the vessels, the department will keep on monitoring and patrolling the country's waters for at least 16 hours a day.