STATUS OF
THE FISHERIES SECTOR IN
1. INTRODUCTION
The fisheries sector still plays an important role in
providing fish as a source of food and protein. Its contribution to the
The fisheries sector is normally categorized into two
main sectors namely the marine capture sector and the aquaculture sector. The
inland capture sector which produced fish from inland fisheries is sometimes
placed under the aquaculture sector in view that its production is only 0.02%
of the total fish production.
As for previous years, the marine capture fisheries
sector remained as the main contributor to the total fish production at 87%
(for the year 2004) fluctuating around one million tonnes
per year. This sector can futher be divided into the
coastal fisheries and the deep-sea fisheries sub-sectors. Research has
indicated that the coastal fisheries have been optimally exploted,
leaving expansion limited only to the deep-sea sub-sector.
Even though the aquaculture sector contributed only
13% for the year 2004 to the total fish production, this sector have been
identified as having the most potential. This sector is further divided into
the various culture systems broadly classified into freshwater culture and brackishwater culture.
2. FISHERIES PROFILE
The fisheries sector in 2004 produced 1,537,988 tonnes of fish valued at RM 5,505.9 million inclusive of
456 million pieces of ornamental fish valued at RM 106.03 million.
Statistically, the fisheries sector recorded an overall increase in production
by 3.64% and in value by 6.17%.
By sector, production from marine capture fisheries
contributed 1,331,645 tonnes or 87% of the nation’s fish
production with value of RM 4,241.4 million. Within this sector, the coastal
fisheries remained the major contributor with a production of 1,060,150 tonnes, which is 69% of the total nation’s production.
Still to be developed to its full potential, the deep-sea fisheries sector
managed 271,495 tonnes therefore contributing 17.6%
to the total fish production.
The aquaculture sector recorded a production of
202,225 tonnes, which constituted about 13.2% of the
total fish production, increasing by 2.72% from the production in 2003. However the value from the aquaculture sector increased by 7.86%
from RM 1,172.31 million in 2003 to RM 1,264.5 million in 2004.
The inland fisheries sector continued to be
insignificant producing only 4,119 tonnes or 0.27% of
the total fish production. The contribution from the ornamental fish (aquarium)
industry recorded 455 million pieces valued at RM106.03 million.
The work force of the fisheries sector consisted of
89,453 fishermen working on licensed fishing vessels an
21,507 fish culturist involved in the various aquaculture systems. These
figures do not include thousands more involved directly or indirectly in
downstream activities and related industries. A total of 36,136 fishing vessels
were licensed in 2004 with the majority operating tradisional
gears.
3. MARINE FISHERIES
3.1
Fishermen
With 89,453 fishermen working on licensed fishing
vessels, the population of the marine fisheries work force remained unchanged.
Out of thid number, 41,443 fishermen worked on
trawlers an purse seiners
while the remainder 48,010 fishermen worked on tradisional
fishing vessels. The West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia had 32,666 (37%)
fishermen, the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia 22,504 (25%), while
The deep-sea fishing industry haas been affected by a lack of large fishing vessels and
skilled manpower. Various
measures have been taken to ensure the expansion and development of the
deep-sea fishing industry sao as to bring maximum
benefits to the country. Amongst these are the issuance of new permits and new licences for deep-sea fishing as well as the training of
fishermen. However, the operations of deep-sea fishing vessels to a certain
extent will still have to rely on foreign work force. The involvement necessary
to accelerate the development og
the industry itself. The number of foreign fishermen registered had reduced by
6.17% from 30,008 in 2003 to 28,154 in 2004.
3.2
Fishing Vessels
The number of licensed fishing vessels in
Development of the deep-sea fishing fleet takes into
serious consideration the status of the fisheries resources. Taking a
precautionary approach, the deep-sea fishing fleet remained comparatively small
compared with the over 30,000 units licensed to operate in the inshore waters.
In 2004, the total number of licensed deep-sea fishing vessels was only 833
units as compared to 813 units in 2003.
3.3
Fishing Gears
Normally each fishing vessel is licensed to operate
one fishing gear. However, there are fishing operations where more than one
licensed fishing gear was being used. At the same time, there are also licensed
fishing vessels being issued more than one fishing gear licensed but at
different seasons. The number of fishing licensed issued for fishing gears will
normally exceed the number of fishing vessels licensed. The total number of fishing
gear licences issued increased by 912 units from
37,013 in 2003 to 37,925 in 2004, corresponding to the increase in the number
of fishing vessels.
3.4
Marine Fish Landings
The total marine landings increased 3.77% from
1,283,256 tonnes in 2003 to 1,331,645 tonnes in 2004. in terms of value,
the increment recorded was 5.68% from RM 4,013.6 million to RM 4,241 million.
Commercial fishing vessels operating trawls and fish purse seiners
which comprised only about 20% of the total fishing vessels produced 77.5% of
the total marine fish landings. On the whole, production from the trawlers
increased by 2.48% from 727,514 tonnes in 2003 to
745,552 tonnes in 2004. Landings from the purse seiners remained relatively unchanged. In 2004 the deep-sea
sector produced 271,495 tonnes (not inclusive
In Peninsular Malaysia, the marine captured sector
still produce the main bulk of the landings contributing 85% of the total
marine production. This year, the contribution futher increased by 3.45% from 780,096 tonnes
to 807,027 tonnes. Even though the deep-sea
sector is rapidly expanding in
Even though a large propotion
of the marine landings in Peninsular Malaysia came from the coastal waters
(85%), landings from the tradisional fishing vessels
stood at only 21% (increasing by 9.17% from 194,209 tonnes
to 212,035 tonnes in 2004). It is still a fact that
the production from this sector is still contributed mainly (63%) in 2004 by
the commercial fishing vessels, namely trawlers and purse seinersof
below 70
Landing of the marine captured fisheries by state is
as shown in Table 2. The West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia contributed 62.5%
whereas the East Coast recorded 37.5% for this year. Perak
produced 24.8% followed by Pahang 13.5%, Selangor 12.9%, Terengganu 11.3%
and Perlis 11.0%. The other states contributed less
than 10% of the total marine landings in Peninsular Malaysia.
4. AQUACULTURE
The aquaculture sector has a large potential and can
contribute significantly to the country’s total fish requirement in future.
Careful planning and serious efforts have been made to develop this sector,
especially in the area of industrial scale aquaculture and through the
participation of the private sectors. However, equal emphasis will also be
given to improve the aquaculture output from small and medium scale farms by
using modern technologies and practicing sustainable management policies.
4.1
Aquaculture Production
Aquaculture production for the year 2004 continued to
be influenced by the production of cockles and fish from freshwater pond
culture and brackish water cages culture. The total production stood at 202,225
tonnes which was an increase of 2.72% over the 2003
output of 196,874 tonnes. This contributed to about
13% of the overall fish production in the country. However in terms of value,
this figure dropped from RM 1,172.3 million to RM 1, 264.5 million increasing
by 7.86%
A total of 21,507 fish farmers / culturists were
involved in the aquaculture industry in 2004, increasing slightly by 1.86% from
21,114 in the year 2003. The bulk of the culturists were involved in the
freshwater sector (17,298) accounting for 80.4% of all fish farmers / culturists.
The brackish water sector involved only 4,209 fish farmers / culturists.
4.2
Freshwater Culture
Freshwater aquaculture contributed 27.5% of the total
aquaculture production in 2004, increasing by 11.23% from 49,947 tonnes to 55,556 tonnes in 2004.
In terms of value, it rocorded RM 255.08 million
compared to RM 241.22 million, increasing by 5.75% thus contributing up to 20%
of the total value of aquaculture production.
Freshwater
pond culture spearheaded production from
freshwater culture systems with 70.6% (39,233.43 tonnes)
of the total freshwater production, increasing by 9.96%. In terms of value, it
recorded an increment of 2.99% from RM 175.53 million to RM 180.78 million in
2004. The major freshwater species cultured were Catfish (14,568 tonnes), Red Tilapia (12,709 tonnes),
Black Tilapia (2,664 tonnes) and River Catfish (2,558
tonnes).
Production from ex-mining
pools increased by 33.11% from 6,495 tonnes in
2003 to 8,646 tonnes posting a value of RM 30.79 million
oncreasing by 35.46% from RM 22.73 million in 2003.
Major species produced were Red Tilapia (4,082.26 tonnes)
followed by Big Head Carp (1,817.75 tonnes) and Black
Tilapia (1,206.54 tonnes).
Freshwater
cage culture, which contributed
10.1% to the overall freshwater production, registered a decreased of 4.84%
from 5,896 tonnes in 2003 to 5,611 tonnes in 2004. Major species produced were Red Tilapia
(2,958.76 tonnes) valued at RM 15.54 million followed
by River Catfish (1,736.46 tonnes) valued at RM 11.39
million.
Freshwater
tank and pen culture system together
provided 1,671.10 tonnes of mainly Red Tilapia, River
Catfish and Walking Catfish. Selangor was the main
producer of fish from tank, whereas Kelantan produces
the most from pen culture.
4.3
Brackish Water / Marine Culture
In 2004, the brackish water culture contributed
75.52% of the total aquaculture production. This contribution decreased by
0.18% from 146,926 tonnes in 2003 to 146,668 tonnes in 2004. The decreased is influenced by the poor
harvest of cockles, which deteriorates by 9.15% from 71,067 tonnes
to 64,565 tonnes in 2004. Cockles
production remained big bulk from the backwater production covering over 40%
annually. Perak remained the top producer of cockles
contributing 69.71% followed by Selangor and Pulau Pinang.
Production from brackish
water pond culture went up by
9.78% from 29,309.53 tonnes in 2003 to 32,175.41 tonnes in 2004. The value decreased by 3.69%, from RM
699.83 million to RM 674.02 million.
Production from brackish
water cage culture was 10,806 tonnes moving down from 10,984 tonnes
in 2003. The value also decreased marginally by 0.96% from RM 156.57 million in
2003 to RM 155.07 million. Johore registered the
highest production of 3,314.61 tonnes. The major
species cultured from brackish water pond were groupers and snappers, which
contributed 50.08% to this sector.
Mussel’s production increased by 3.64% from 7,701 tonnes in 2003 to 7,950 tonnes in
2004. Johore was the main producer with production of
7,639 tonnes, contributing 96.64% og the mussels harvested. Value of mussels
production also increased from RM 2.85 million in 2003 to RM 3.26 million
(14.38%). Total oyster production in 2004 was 260.68 tonnes
with a value of RM 1.34 million.
4.4
Ornamental Fish
The total production of ornamental
fish increased by 6.40% from 428,298,151 pieces to 455,723,540 pieces in 2004. In terrm of value, the
increase was 8.60% from RM 97.64 million in 2003 to RM 106.03 million in 2004. Johore remained as the main producer contributing
298,321,908 pieces which was 65.46% of the total producing of ornamental fish
in 2004.
5. FISH SEED PRODUCTION
Production of freshwater fingerlings from government
hatcheries in 2004 jumped to 424.25 million pieces from 23.5 million pieces in
2003. The main species bred are mainly Catfish, Red Tilapia and Javanese Carp.
Production of brackish water fish / prawn fry and fingerlings
from government hatcheries in 2004 was 425.25 million pieces. The main species
produced were Barramundi, Tiger Prawn and Giant Freshwater Prawn. Alarge number freshwater fry amounting to 5.79 million
pieces were released to public water bodies.
6. PUBLIC WATERBODIES / INLAND FISHERIES
Public waterbodies / inland
fisheries refers to the landing of fish from public waterbodies
i.e. rivers, lakes, ex-mining pools and dams. The landings from public waterbodies / inland fisheries recorded an increment from
3,828 tonnes in 2003 to 4,119 tonnes
in 2004 increasing by 7.60%. Perak produced 1,437 tonnes or 34.88% of the total landings from public water
bodies.