Moratorium to Reduce Pressure
on Marine Resources
BELAIT, 12
April 2007, Thursday - A moratorium to be enforced by January 2008 on
fishing activities within Zone I (three miles from shore) is expected to
reduce resource pressure to 22 per cent.
This is in view of the 43
per cent reduction in fish resources from 1980 to 2000, particularly in
Zone I at a depth of zero to 50 metres.
The steady decrease of
fisheries resources indicates the occurrence of overfishing in the area.
This was yesterday
highlighted by Senior Fisheries Officer, Haji Ajamain bin Haji Sawal
during a Belait District roadshow on the implementation of a moratorium
on fishing operations in Zone I.
The moratorium will be
enforced by the Department of Fisheries - under the Ministry of Industry
and Primary Resources (MIPR) - in Zone 1, and it will extend three
nautical miles from shore.
This is to reduce fishing
activities in the area and ensure marine resources will recover and
benefit on a long-term basis.
In her presentation, Senior
Fisheries Officer, Dayang Ranimah binti Hj Abdul Wahab explained that
the moratorium brings a temporary ban or suspension of any fishing
activity in a given period of time until the full recovery of fishing
resources has been achieved.
The moratorium will be
imposed to provide opportunity for local fishermen who rely on Zone I,
and also to assure the fishing resources are constantly at a sustainable
level.
The temporary ban involves
relocating fishing companies utilising foreign workers from Zone to
Zone.
However, full-time or
part-time private fishermen will not be affected and involved in the
moratorium programme.
The execution of the
moratorium in Zone I further involves putting off or freezing the
issuance of licences on new and fishing equipment exceeding the limit
used in Zone I - such as ring net (ancau), trammel gill net (andang
karan ), bottom set gill net (andang jarang), fish trap (bubu),
shallow-water fish corral (lintau), pomfret seine net (pukat duai/ panau),
beach seine (pukat ambit/kikis), barrier gill net :(pukat kembura/kuasi),
cast net (rambat), tiff net (selambau) and conical tidal trap (tugu).
Meanwhile, fishing
equipment not included in the moratorium programme are handline (jaul),
intertidal fish trap (kabat), deep-water fish corral (kilong), seine net
penguyat), drill grill net (rantau), longline (rawai ) and barrier (tambak).
However, the implication of
a moratorium would result in an increase in competition as a result of
sharing marine resources in Zone II, with 12 pukat tunda, five pukat
lingkong, six longlines and 147 small fishing companies.
To ensure members of the
public - especially fishermen in the country - fully understand the
impact of such moratorium and for them to prepare themselves for
whatever eventualities that could affect them, the Department of
Fisheries will be conducting roadshows throughout the four districts.
Some 100 participants
attended the road show yesterday comprising commercial small-scale
fishermen, mukim penghulus and village heads from the Belait district.
Later, another presentation
on the moratorium - under the legal context - was presented by Assistant
Fisheries Officer, Awang Ishak bin Jarudin.
- Courtesy of
Borneo Bulletin -
