KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (Bernama) — The Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia
(LKIM) will build a new 25-acre fishermen’s settlement with 300 houses as part of its
East Coast Economic Region (ECER) initiatives.
“The settlement will improve the lives of fishermen and their families. Of these, 200
homes are funded by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry while the balance is
financed by the Fishermen’s Fund,” said LKIM director-general Mustafa Ahmad in a
statement today.
Tok Bali’s deep-sea fishing port will play a key role in the development of fisheries-based
activities within the ECER.
Currently catering largely to fishing fleets operating in the South China Sea, it will also
expand to local marine catch and land-based aquaculture production, the ECER
secretariat said.
It has been earmarked for an integrated fisheries complex.
The location of Tok Bali Integrated Fisheries Park as a potential fisheries hub will
establish the critical mass required to optimise prices, according to the secretariat.
“It will also contain an industrial fish-processing park immediately adjacent to the
landing area,” it said.
To increase the fishermen’s income, LKIM has initiated the new concept of precision
fishing, which means fishermen do not have to go sea, but can also breed fish in sea
water.
“This means implementing aquaculture on a commercial scale. Due to precision fishing,
fishermen’s catch has increased and income has risen between 40 and 88 percent,”
Mustafa said.
“Fish population density is also 30 percent higher than the open seas. Because of rising
cost of fuel, this is a means of helping fishermen recover their capital in the shortest
time possible and in turn, combat poverty,” he said.
There are already 31 precision fishing sites in Pahang, 66 in Terengganu and 28 in
Kelantan.
— BERNAMA
