KOTA KINABALU, July 12 — Fishermen in Sabah are increasingly afraid of going out to sea following the latest kidnapping of three Indonesian fishermen by gunmen off the coast of Lahad Datu.

Tawau fishing association president Arsani Arshad said that fishermen felt the threat now more than ever following the seeming trend of commercial boats that were intercepted by Abu Sayyaf militants from southern Philippines in search of kidnap-for-ransom opportunities.

"We understand that there is always risks we take every time we go out to see, but that is our life. We have to make a living,” Arsani told Malay Mail Online.

"But the government has already put a curfew on us and banned barter trading between the countries. What else is there but proper enforcement to protect us?” he added.

Arsani said that despite fears, fishermen will still go out to sea as usual and hope for the best.

"What choice do we have to earn a living through honest means? We still have to go out and catch fish,” he said.

The latest in a spate of abductions last weekend saw three Indonesian fishermen taken hostage by five armed men off the coast of Lahad Datu, Sabah, late Saturday night while within the curfew zone some 2.6 nautical miles from the coast.

The Abu Sayyaf group had first started its kidnapping spree targeting tourists including Westerners and the Chinese who often vacationed in the east coast islands of Sabah.

When the government introduced the sea curfew from dusk to dawn some two years ago, the kidnap-for-ransom groups gradually shifted their focus, and more and more Malaysian and Indonesian fishermen became the target of their multi-million ringgit crimes.

Last April 1, a tugboat returning from Manila was hijacked by kidnappers and four Sarawakian sailors were kidnapped from Sabah waters. They were released last month after a reported RM12 million ransom was paid by the family members.

A fishing boat owner from Sandakan, who only wanted to be known as Chong, said he has been having trouble getting local crew to go out to sea in the last year or so due to the kidnappings.

He said while the fishermen themselves wanted to go out to sea and work, concerns from family members were too stressful to manage and he did not want to jeopardise their lives.

"At first, we thought they were just unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the recent one was really close to shore, and they also had a permit. I would not have expected it.

"I’m not sure what Esscom is doing but the fishermen here are feeling unsafe,” he added.

The latest abduction saw three Indonesians — Lorence Koten, 34, Teo Dorus Kopong, 42, and Emanuel, 46 — taken off the fishing trawler while their "Pelahu”, or sea gypsies crew, were left on the boat when five heavily armed men stormed their vessel.

State police commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said the kidnappers have not made any contact or ransom demands yet.