Reconsider fresh seafood export ban — association
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah United Fisheries and Fishing Boat Association yesterday appealed to the state government to review the ban on export of fresh seafood to other states in Malaysia.
Its chairman, Arsani Arsat, said there had not been any restrictions in trade between Malaysian states since the country’s independence and many factors have to be considered before implementing the ban.
He said, the Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin, made the decision to ban the export of fresh seafood based on three reasons - lack of fresh seafood supply in Sabah, expensive seafood and for the benefit of the tourism industry.
However, Arsani said, supply of seafood was more than sufficient in the state, except for several months between November and February in Kota Kinabalu.
“There is supply of seafood all year round in the east coast, sometimes more, sometimes less,” he maintained.
Furthermore, he said, environmental factors such as El Nino or excessive rainfall could also affect the catch.
“There are seasons when our catch reaches 100 tonnes a day, there are times when we get less than 30 tonnes, which causes the price to rise.”
Arsani said, prices of seafood depended on the supply but that should not be the basis on which the export ban is imposed on fresh seafood.
“If our fish cannot go to Sarawak or Peninsular Malaysia, what if one day we need them to supply us (with their produce or products)?” he asked.
Arsani said this after meeting with Department of Fisheries director, Datuk Rayner Datuk Stuel Galid, at Wisma Pertanian here yesterday.
Although Rayner had explained the reasons behind the ban, Arsani said, the association still hoped to meet with Yahya for clearer explanation as well as to present the views of the association to the minister.
“We want to understand what the minister has to say and at the same time, we want the minister to understand what we have to say,” he said.
He said, the supply of seafood was seasonal and there were seasons where seafood was in oversupply, beyond the local demand in Sabah.
“So why should’nt we export to Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Labuan?”
He said fishing boats would only export the seafood they harvested when the supply is sufficient to meet the local demand.
Arsani said exported fresh seafood was intended for the consumption in Malaysia as the fresh seafood could not travel far without compromising their freshness.
“From here (Kota Kinabalu) to Peninsular Malaysia takes about two and a half hours to two hours and 45 minutes. We would not export outside Malaysia because of the distance; the seafood might not be able to maintain the freshness. So fresh seafood is indeed for (the consumption within) Malaysia only,” he said, adding that the seafood in Sabah was also considered one of the cheapest in Malaysia, aside from Perak.
Arsani said, the association was informed by Rayner that seafood export from Sabah in 2014 totaled 130,000 tonnes and valued at RM800 million.
Furthermore, Arsani explained that the majority of the fish exported to Peninsular Malaysia was considered as ‘ikan rakyat’, meaning the species which the people usually consume, such as tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), basung (scad), ikan putih, stingray, kembung (Indian mackerel) and tuna.
“Most of the fish exported to Peninsular Malaysia are ikan rakyat that are not meant for the consumption of tourists,” he pointed out.
If the ban is imposed, Arsani said, local seafood processing factories and fertilizer factories would not be able to even cope with the oversupply of seafood during the fishing season due to limited capacity. Hence, Arsani appealed to the government to review the ban on the export of fresh seafood, especially within the country.
“The Prime Minister say that we are 1Malaysia, so why can’t we send our products from Sabah to West Malaysia?”
He said, the ban could potentially affect the 1,200 fishing boats operating in Sabah, with each boat having an average of 15 crew members.
Meanwhile, Kent Lim, who has been operating a forwarding company for 20 years, said that the ban on fresh seafood export was not viable.
He said many fishing boat operators were bearing bank loans in order to purchase their equipment such as machinery and freezer. If the ban is imposed, Lim said, the operators might be pushed to unemployment and bankruptcy.
Lim said, seafood was perhaps the only product the State could export at this time, considering the weak palm oil price. Besides, Lim said, he has not heard of seafood restaurants in Sabah having no fish to sell.
“Which seafood restaurant has run out of seafood to sell?” he asked.
Present were Sabah United Fisheries and Fishing Boat Association vice chairman, Simon Hong, treasurer Chiang Bhat Sing, committee member, Desmond Chiang, and Kota Kinabalu Fishing Boat Owners Association (KKFBOA) vice president Chia Gek Song.