Malaysia: Local tuna industry falls short

The Star 17 Dec 10;

GEORGE TOWN: Only 33 Malaysian tuna vessels are plying the Indian Ocean, far short of the 103-ship quota approved for the country by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).

Malaysian Fisheries Department director-general Datuk Ahamad Sabki Mahmood said if Malaysia did not take up the quota which was approved in 2002 and effective till 2012, there would be a problem asking for a bigger fleet allowance in future.

“Countries like Taiwan, Korea, China, Japan and Spain have all been taking full advantage of the free resources in the Indian Ocean, but we, who are located much nearer, are not participating as much as we could.

“There are now 4,000 international ships fishing in the Indian Ocean which is the second biggest tuna resource after the Western Central Pacific Ocean,” he said after opening the 2010 Tuna Industry Development Symposium at a hotel here.

Ahamad Sabki said the country’s tuna industry failed to develop as anticipated, with the yearly haul reaching only 5% of the targeted amount.

He said the low participation and interest of local parties in the industry was an area of concern.

“From what we can see, the industry has not developed to the extent that we had hoped for. Currently, we only bring in 3,000 metric tonnes of tuna a year, compared to our targeted 60,000 metric tonnes,” he said.

Ahamad Sabki said the main causes preventing more local participation in the tuna industry were a lack of three things — high-tech technology to catch tuna, bigger boats to support the haul and trained fishermen who could handle them in the far oceans.

“We’re looking at linking up with places like Taiwan and Acheh (Indonesia) to provide training programmes for our fishermen. Through symposiums like this, we also hope to come up with ideas to help develop the industry,” he said.