KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parks has installed a system to trace explosives in several locations in the state, as part of an effort to curb fish bombing activities.
Its director Dr Jamili Nais said, however, the use of the 'fish bomb detectors' was still being studied.
"We have several efforts including with Scubazoo and Marine Conservation Society which have been conducting research on the system's effectiveness and suitability here.
"There are several aspects that we need to look into.
"For the detector to be effective, we need to triangulate and find the exact locations as well as the speed of frequency (of fish bombing activities)," he said when met at Pulau Manukan here today.
Jamili was responding to a question on the effectiveness of 'fish bomb detectors', which were said to have been installed by Sabah Parks in recent years.
"We are still carrying out a study (on the explosive trace system) so, we are not ready yet.
"When we are ready, we will announce (the development)," he said without elaborating.
In 2017, it was reported that Sabah would use a 'Shot Spotter' - an American technology to detect gunshots - to combat fish bombing. The technology was tested in Semporna in 2015 and was able to accurately locate fish bomb explosions.
The then state tourism, culture and environment assistant minister Datuk Pang Nyuk Ming had also said several test areas for the technology would be set up at Tun Mustapha Park in Kudat.
Recently, Stop Fish Bombing Malaysia founding member Terence Lim said the non-governmental organisation was planning to introduce underwater blasts detector system to assist the authorities in their enforcement effort.
This came following the death of three scuba divers - Malaysian Ab Zainal Abdun and Chinese tourists Zhao Zhong and Xu Yingjie - who were killed by a fish bomb on July 5. The explosive was set off at Semporna's Pulau Kulapuan, where there were no boats in the vicinity.
Meanwhile, Sabah Parks Board of Trustees' chairman Mohd Amin Abdul Mem said he had instructed all park managements, especially in Semporna, to intensify efforts and enforcement to apprehend fish bombers.