Fisherman disappointed over suspected fish bombing in Gerik

SHAH ALAM - A group of men is believed to be involved in fish bombing when several dead fish were found in the forest area of Gerik, Perak on Friday.

A fisherman known as Faizal said that initially, he and eight of his friends came to the forest area for fishing and recreation.

However, according to him, they did not get the expected results but instead found several carcasses of freshwater fish on the rocks near the river.

"Usually when we fish there, we always get fish, but on the day of the incident, there were none at all. So, we went up to a slightly higher area and found many newly dead fish as its eyes were still clear.

"We were disappointed because the journey took about six hours to reach this river but it did not yield any results, and we also found many fish internal organs washed away.

"Not long after we returned, I received a video via a WhatsApp group showing them having fun with the catch at the place where I was fishing earlier, and I suspect they used bombs. Out of anger, I immediately uploaded it on Facebook," he said on Monday.

Previously, a viral video recording showed a group of men displaying a large catch of fish such as mahseer, tengas and carp in a river area within the forest.

Following this on Monday, the Malaysian Fisheries Department (DOF) investigated the activities of a viral group of men who were said to be catching fish in a wrong and suspicious manner.

The Fisheries Malaysia director-general Datuk Adnan Hussain said that investigations conducted by his department included identifying the location, date of the incident and individuals involved.

Further commenting, Faizal said that he received several calls and WhatsApp messages from the owners of the video asking him to delete it, claiming that it was just a misunderstanding.

As a result, Faizal made a police report to protect himself at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park Police Station in Kedah on Sunday afternoon.

"My friends also made police reports in Gerik, Perak regarding this issue, and we also reported this issue to the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) and DOF.

"We hope there will be appropriate action taken by the authorities because it is a serious offence," he said.