2 youths seen allegedly fishing from Pasir Ris pond, place fish into bag held by girl
The police are investigating after a group of youths allegedly sneaked into a closed fishing pond in Pasir Ris to steal fish in the wee hours of Thursday (20 Nov) morning.
D’Best Recreation, which is located in Pasir Ris Town Park, posted CCTV footage of the act on Instagram.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
Youths seen climbing over fence to get to Pasir Ris pond
The clip, which has a time stamp of 3.23am on 20 Nov, showed a boy in a black T-shirt casting a line across a fence bordering the pond.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
When a fish took the bait, it became stuck in the safety net covering the pond.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
Thus, a boy in a white T-shirt climbed over the fence and lifted the net, grabbed the fish and threw it onto the grass outside.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
A girl who was watching them held a plastic bag, which they put the fish into.
The post’s caption said this was not the first time the youths had done something like this and added that the business had caught and warned them twice before.
Youths allegedly steal fish worth over S$50 from Pasir Ris pond
D’Best Recreation’s 41-year-old general manager Mr Huang (transliterated from Mandarin) told Shin Min Daily News that the two boys later switched roles, with the boy in the white fishing and the boy in black climbing over the fence to get the fish.
They had thrown bait into the pond through gaps in the net after it closed at 6pm, he said.
The pond contained various species of fish such as grouper, red snapper, golden snapper and barramundi, and the group allegedly took two or three worth more than S$50, he added.
Business makes police report after 3rd violation by youths
The youths are frequent visitors to the pond, Mr Huang said.
The business apparently had CCTV footage of them on the premises at other times.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
Two months ago, they paid to enter the “catch and release” pond but secretly took the fish with them, he added.
At the time, the business gave them only a verbal warning because they were young.
But staff caught them flouting the rules again, and they promised not to repeat the offence, Mr Huang noted.
After Thursday’s incident, the third violation, D’Best decided to file a police report because they had repeatedly ignored warnings.
Source: D’Best Recreation on Instagram
In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed that a report has been lodged and that investigations are ongoing.
10 CCTV cameras across pond
Mr Huang said that since D’Best took over the business in 2020, violations had occurred every one or two days.
The most common violations involved people fishing outside opening hours, taking away their catches, and using multiple fishing rods simultaneously.
Some people also sneak into the pond at points where the fence is low.
Once, a youth was caught fishing from outside the pond in the heavy rain, with staff finding him standing under a tree, soaking wet.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
As the pond covers 5 hectares, it’s difficult for staff to monitor the entire area, so there are now more than 10 CCTV cameras on the grounds.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The business installed additional CCTV at some of the “hot spots” about two months ago, he added.
Also read: Youths spotted fishing dangerously at Marina Promenade, PUB investigating matter
Youths spotted fishing dangerously at Marina Promenade, PUB investigating matter
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Featured image adapted from D’Best Recreation on Instagram.
