Fishermen told not to depend solely on dept to preserve fish population

0

(From seventh left) Haliza and Norah in a group photo after releasing the tiger prawns.

TANJONG MANIS: Fishermen in the state cannot rely solely on the Marine Fisheries Department to preserve the fish population.

State Marine Fisheries Department deputy director of development Haliza Sulaiman said fishermen themselves could help to manage resources to prevent extinction.

“In 2017, the department set up 35 units of artificial reefs in the waters of Belawai using an allocation of almost RM500,000. This is part of the development project that the department provides to sustain fisheries resources.

“The artificial reefs are expected to increase the fish population in our waters because these reefs will be the breeding ground for fish,” she said prior to the release of 1,000 tiger prawns in Belawai, near here yesterday.

Tanjong Manis incumbent Datuk Norah Tun Rahman was the guest-of-honour at the function.

Haliza said Tanjong Manis and Belawai both have big potential in the fisheries industry as a whole, pointing out that the government had allocated a total of 430 hectares of land for the Aquaculture Industry Zone besides setting up the prawn hatchery centre in Belawai.

“The department also has a ‘Trial and Demonstration Ponds’ project in Selumit and it is an example of the effectiveness and potential of this area for shrimp and fish breeding.

“There are 10 ponds operating in Selumit at the moment. The ponds are also used as a training centre for our staff, students as well as locals who are interested to venture into the aquaculture sector.

“We hope more people would venture into this field,” she said.