According to a report in The Star, Sabah State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said the state could only enact its own law if it did not contradict any existing provisions in the Fisheries Act currently enforced in Sabah.
“Our officers are studying the relevant laws, taking into account that federal law is supreme,” he said, explaining that no state law on shark hunting and finning could hold up in court if the Fisheries Act, which will override state law, does not make it an offence.
“Any person charged under state law could apply for a court declaration that the state law is void because it goes against the provisions of a federal law.”
Thus, Masidi said, it was crucial for the Fisheries Act to be amended so that Sabah could enact its own laws against shark hunting and finning.
Last week, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said that Sabah had the autonomous power over fishing and could ban fishing of all sharks if it chose to do so.
He had also said that Putrajaya would provide protection for seven species of sharks and rays, but allow all the rest of Malaysia’s 67 species to be fished.
Of the 67 species, 48 can be found in Sabah waters, but only two, the whale shark and the sawfish, were considered endangered.
Federal protection would be extended to the oceanic white tip shark, four hammerhead shark species, the giant oceanic manta ray and the reef manta ray, as endangered species.
Last month, horrifying images of shark finning said to have taken place in Sabah’s Mabul island, near Sipadan island, raised the ire of conservationists and netizens, who lamented the lack of strong laws and enforcement.
The pictures showed many sharks in bloodied waters after having their fins removed. Sharks die after their fins are removed as they can’t balance themselves in the water, according to the report.