Operators of fishing trawlers today said they could potentially lose up to three quarters of their usual haul if Putrajaya insists on enforcing a ruling requiring fishermen to use a bigger mesh size for their nets.
A group of trawler operators claiming to represent fishermen from six states in the Peninsula ? Penang, Kedah, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Johor ? said the already-tough times could only get worse with the new ruling.
Using the nets we have now, we can catch smaller fish which are about the right size for processing into fishballs. We also catch shrimp using our nets, said Cheah Swee Teck, who spoke on behalf of some 40 trawler operators who rallied in front of Parliament today.
If we are forced to change our nets, we will no longer be able to bring in these smaller catch. We expect to lose around 60 to 70 per cent of our haul, he claimed.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently said that the government will stay firm on the ruling that came in force on November 1 with the aim of protecting the country’s marine resources.
The ruling, which was incorporated into the Fisheries Act in 1985, requires operators of fishing trawlers to change their 25mm mesh nets to those that use a larger 38mm mesh with a maximum net width of 3m.
Failure to comply with the regulation would leave fishermen liable to have their boats or fishing gear confiscated by the authorities, on top of having their license revoked.
The New Straits Times reported Ismail as saying that nets using smaller meshes were hauling in a lot of fry, directly affecting the country’s future marine fish supply.
These fry cannot be sold at markets and end up being used as fertiliser. Malaysia is only following the footsteps of other countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, which had already enforced a similar ruling, he was quoted as saying by the English daily.
Cheah today acknowledged that there is merit to the government’s concern over the country’s future fish supply, but noted that as it is, fishermen are already not doing very well.
It’s hard to estimate how much we will lose in terms of income, but even now with the current nets we don’t know how much we can catch every time we go out.
For example, if we go on a 10-day outing, we may catch fish for three days and have nothing for the next three days, so it’s hard to say how much we can earn each trip.
And then the price of diesel has also gone up. Each time you go out, you suffer a loss, so who is willing to go out and catch fish like this? he lamented, referring to the reduction of subsidies for diesel for fishing trawlers.
DAP’s Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, who received a memorandum from the fishermen to be presented to Ismail, said the government needs to push back implementation of the ruling until an acceptable solution can be found.
What the fishermen are asking for is a dialogue with the minister to discuss their problems and come to a solution to the issue. They are seeking a win-win solution, he said.
2013, The Malay Mail Online