KOTA KINABALU: The state government has banned the export of fresh seafood from Sabah with immediate effect.
Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin announced in his yearly address at Wisma Pertanian near here yesterday that only frozen seafood may be exported from Sabah from now onward.
Yahya explained that the move was made to address local shortage of fresh seafood in Sabah as most had been exported.
“This is so we can enjoy more fresh seafood and we may even become more attractive to tourists who are keen on having fresh seafood. It can become a tourism attraction for Sabah…if they want fresh seafood, they can come to Sabah,” he said.
Yahya added that no more exportation of fresh seafood would be carried out even to neighbouring Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
Meanwhile, State Fisheries Department director Datuk Rayner Stuel Galid told reporters that they will wait for detailed instruction from the state government on this issue.
According to Rayner, 20 companies in Sabah were in the business of exporting fresh seafood from the state and the total tonnage per year of seafood, including frozen, fresh and live seafood, exported from Sabah annually was at 130,000 tonnes, valued at RM800 million.
Among the export destinations for Sabah’s seafood were West Malaysia, European Union, USA as well as China, Brunei and Sarawak, he added.
Rayner said the department will study the impact of the new directive, but noted that fresh seafood was only one of three categories of seafood produced in Sabah.