Tutong Fishermen Enlightened on Moratorium
TUTONG, 02 May 2007,
Wednesday - The Fisheries Department will be holding roadshows in all
four districts to ensure the public - particularly fishermen - fully
understand the impact and implications of the Moratorium on Fishing in
Zone I.
One such roadshow was
yesterday held at the Tutong Community Hall, drawing the participation
of commercial small-scale fishermen, penghulus, village heads and
several concerned parties.
The main objective is to
spread information pertaining to the moratorium on fishing operations in
Zone I. A moratorium refers to a temporary ban or suspension of any
fishing activity for a given period of time until full recovery of
marine resources is achieved.
The moratorium would
require small-scale fishermen utilising foreign workers to move to Zone
II, as well as new part-time fishermen and new small-scale applicants.
This does not include full
time independent fishermen or current part-time fishermen. The
moratorium also involves suspension of licence on fishing gears
including ancau, andang, bubu, lintau, pukat, selambau and tugu.
The temporary suspension is
essential because it has been determined by the Fisheries Department
that there has been a drop in fisheries resources (at 43%) between
1980-2000, especially in Zone I, which suggests there has been
over-fishing in the area.
Additionally, the Fisheries
Department discovered the number of licences issued for some fishing
gears (as mentioned above) had exceeded the allowable number of fishing
gears operated in Zone I.
Present to officiate the
roadshow was Senior Fisheries Officer, Sabri bin Haji Mohd Taha, while
the presentations were conducted by Senior Fisheries Officer, Ranimah
bte Haji Abdul Wahab and Assistant Fisheries Officer, Ishak bin Jarudin.
There was also saw a
questions and answers session.
The attendees voiced their
concerns regarding large fishing ships and the competition with small
scale fishermen in Zone II. They are worried that the larger fishing
ships will hit or disrupt their fishing activities either intentionally
or otherwise.
The Fisheries Department
urged the fishermen to try and keep a safe distance and try and avoid
conflict. If such disruption were to happen intentionally, the fishermen
could report to the Fisheries Department.
From now and continuing
past the start of the proposed moratorium enforcement period, the
Fisheries Department will be providing technical help and advisory
services to fishermen.
The implementation and
enforcement on moratorium of fishing operations in Zone I (fishing area
within 3 nautical miles from the shore) will be imposed on January 1,
2008.
This is one of the
programmes organised by the Department of Fisheries in resolving the
steady reduction of marine resources.
The next road
show will be held in the Temburong District on May 17, 2007.
- Courtesy of
Borneo Bulletin -
