KUANTAN: 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.
Move to curb cheating in fish landings
New Straits Times 4 Sep 12;
KUANTAN: All fishing boat operators must register their catches and trips in a log book provided to them starting next month, said Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharom.
He said their particulars would be recorded by Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) officers to prevent cheating in the amount of revenue garnered from each trip.
This procedure would ensure that the number of landings commensurate with the diesel quota set for each category of fishing vessels, he said here yesterday.
"This procedure is being implemented to prevent 'leakage' in fish landings and avoid undeclared catches.
"The information will enable LKIM to determine the amount of subsidised diesel to be allocated to a vessel.
"After this, the amount of diesel allocated to each vessel will depend on the amount of catches made.
"We have set one ton of fish to be equivalent to one litre of diesel."
He said there were many irregularities in deep-water fishing operations throughout the country as observed in the Class C2 (deep sea) landing data this year, where 1,536 vessels brought in only 112,444.59 tonnes of fish.
"With the number of fishing vessels operating throughout the country, the landings should have hauled 384,000 tonnes, with each vessel bringing in 250 tonnes a year."
Johari said the highest number of irregularities occurred in Kelantan, where 372 vessels caught only 9,405 tonnes of fish.
"I am going to Kelantan soon to meet deepwater fishing boat operators and ask bogus operators to stop the fraudulent activities." Bernama