Malaysia’s deep-sea fishing trawler operators have been warned to clean up their act as the Vessels’ Operation Report (LOV) data collection standard operating procedure has been enforced to curb abuses.
Deputy Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum said the Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) and the Fisheries Department would now work together to record the trawlers’ fish landing data every day.
Previously, the onus was on the fishermen to report their data to the authorities. This system is open to tampering of data and abuse.
Under the new system, we will record the data and check whether their catch tallies with their subsidised fuel. No operator can escape, he said during a visit to the LKIM complex here.
He said both agencies would work in shifts to record the LOV data which would then be sent to the state directors.
Mohd Johari added that licence and subsidised fuel abuses had caused the Government heavy losses besides affecting the country’s resources.
This is caused by licence owners leasing out their boats to foreign fishermen, particularly Vietnamese, who then ship Malaysia’s fish and fuel back to their own countries.
There are 1,535 C2 vessels in the country and the expected catch should be around 384,000 tonnes but only 298,771 tonnes of fish were landed last year.
This is very serious as it can severely affect our food resources in the future. Our fish is supposed to be for the consumption of Malaysians, not the people in other countries, he said.
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