A court Kota Kinabalu has jailed 17 Chinese fishermen from southern Hainan province for 18 months each for poaching hundreds of protected turtles, officials said today.

The poachers were caught by Malaysian marine police on March 28 in waters off the coast of Sabah with a catch of 274 protected Hawksbill and Green turtles, only 32 of which were still alive.

Mohamad Yusoff Anthony, from Sabah's fisheries department, said the Chinese fishermen yesterday received sentences of six months for each of three offences of poaching the two turtle species, and encroaching on Malaysian waters.

"Hopefully this punishment will be a lesson for the accused and others," Mohamad Yusoff, who prosecuted the case in Sabah Magistrate's Court, told AFP.

He said the captain of the Chinese-registered boat was fined RM508,000 and each of the crew RM86,000 in lieu of jail terms, but they opted to serve consecutive jail terms instead of paying.

The World Conservation Union lists the Hawksbill turtle as critically endangered, while the Green turtle is also endangered.

"Of the 185 Green turtles and the 89 Hawksbill turtles, 32 are still alive and we are going to release them very soon," said Mohamad Yusoff.

"We will try to find a safe area where there are no fishermen."

Hunted for meat, shell

The arrest of the 17 Chinese fishermen was the second swoop by marine police last month. On March 26 they caught 19 Chinese nationals, also from Hainan, with nearly 80 turtles, most of which were also dead.

"They are from the same area, I think also from the same syndicate," said Mohamad Yusoff of the two groups.

He said four of the 19 were sent back to China, but the remaining fishermen would appear before the court on Friday.

Turtles are hunted in Malaysia for their meat and shell, but many die after getting entangled in fishing nets in open seas.

China is a major importer of turtles from Asia for food and medicinal purposes, and aggressive poaching in Southeast Asian countries has seen sea turtle numbers falling.