The outcry by local fishermen over the impending ban on trawler net which has a mesh size of 32mm reflects the lack of awareness or disregard for conserving fish stocks in our seas.
Their fear is the compulsory use of purse nets which has a mesh size of 38cm would reduce their catch by 20 per cent and they would not be able to catch anchovy which have a body size averaging 34cm.
While the drop in their catches is inevitable with the bigger mesh size nets, the impact on their earnings would be mitigated by the fact that the fish that could escape the purse nets would be of very low commercial value given their size.
As for anchovy there are other methods to catch them without having to resort to trawling with small mesh size nets.
Those who argue on the premise of lower catches against the banning of trawl nets are taking a myopic and selfish stand on the issue.
The very reason for enforcing larger mesh size nets on trawlers is to reduce their catches, especially smaller fish as a means to conserve fish stocks.
It sad that the very people who should be most concerned about conserving our marine resources are the ones who seem most callous about exploiting the riches of the sea.
Perhaps there have been not enough efforts put in raising awareness among our fishing community on the harm of overfishing.
Or have these attempts been an exercise in futility, as fishermen generally do not care about dwindling catches because they consider the problems of the future as not their business.
Realistically the only way to control fish catches is through strict enforcement but the performance of our Maritime Enforcement Agency has been found wanting all this while.
This situation was so bad that it brought out a sharp rebuke on the enforcement personnel from the chief minister earlier this year.
However, genuine local fishermen are not the only ones carrying out irresponsible fishing in our coastal waters as foreign trawlers using permits leased out by local trawler licence holders are worse culprits in the ravaging of our marine resources.
Despite complaints from Sarawak Fishing Vessels Association (SFVA) about this ‘ali baba’ practice by local licence holders who leased out their permits to trawlers from Vietnam, Thailand and China it seems these foreign fishermen are still trawling ‘legally’ using local licences.
This creates a very unfair situation for local trawlers as the foreigners ignore conditions stipulated in the licences with impunity while genuine local trawlers were subjected to checks by the authorities.
SFVA rightly calls on the government to stop local fishing vessel licence holders from leasing their licences to foreign trawlers.
Unless this was done, genuine local trawler licence holders have valid reasons to feel aggrieved by the double standard in enforcing mesh size restriction on the nets they use.