Malaysia’s Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has declared 2014 as the year for doing away with the middlemen who have been exploiting the country’s fishermen.
“It is going to be a holy war. It is a serious matter. If the problem remains unresolved, fishermen will continue to be poor,” he said in reference to the over 60,000 fishermen in the country.
A value chain strategy would be employed by the fishermen’s associations to undertake most of the activities now undertaken by the middlemen, he told reporters after opening the 28th annual general meeting of the National Fishermen’s Association (Nekmat), here, Monday night.
Nekmat as well as regional and state fishermen’s associations would produce ice, set up retail outlets, repair boats and market the fish, he said.
“Enough of buying ice from other people. Fishermen must also set up workshops to repair their boats. I want LKIM (Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia) to train the children of fishermen to become mechanics to repair the fishing boats themselves, and not leave it to others,” he said.
“The question of fishermen and poverty has never changed in terms of perception and reality. Poverty and exploitation. Middlemen do not go out to sea, but they reap the profits from fish landings.
“The product comes from the fishermen, but the middlemen determine the prices. This has got to change,” he said.
Also present at the event were the deputy minister, Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman; LKIM chairman Irmohizam Ibrahim and Nekmat chairman Mohamad Dolmat.
Ismail Sabri also said that the ministry would come up with three mechanisms for the marketing of fish to ensure that fishermen could sell directly to consumers.
Up to 100 fishermen’s markets would be set up at fish landing sites in the country and wholesale markets would be established with the cooperation of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama), he said.
He also said that Nekmat and LKIM would also purchase seven types of fish, among them ‘selar’, ‘kembung’, ‘selayang’ and ‘pelaling’, directly from the fishermen to be frozen and sold to hypermarkets nationwide.
“All these will be handled by fishermen’s associations and, if well implemented, there will be no more middlemen,” he said.
2013 Bernama