Fisherman turns millionaire by spawning grouper eggs
BESUT: A fisherman here has become a millionaire by investing in grouper egg spawning in line with the government's effort to encourage aquaculture.
The state government has targeted fish demand of up to three million tonnes per year with 80 percent derived from the sea and 20 percent supplied from aquaculture projects.
A Bernama survey around the waterfront of Kampung Air Tawar here, found many young people, especially fishermen were busy with breeding grouper fish eggs with the support of many parties. One of the breeders, Tuan Fakaruddin Tuan Kadir, 38, of Kampung Air Tawar, Besut said he was determined to look for a new source of income and was thought to be insane when he sold his fishing boat left behind by his father to change his livelihood.
"In 2007, I started the business with a capital of only RM10,000 to breed wild grouper fish and sea bass but wild grouper is seasonal from November to April. After that I was determined to try something new by attending a hybrid grouper seed spawning course on Marine Aquaculture Technology at the Fisheries Research Institute of Malaysia (FRI) in Tanjung Demong.
"With the knowledge and advice from FRI Tanjung Demong, I started raising the grouper, step by step from a breeder before expanding into a hybrid grouper egg spawning," said Fakaruddin who is now earning a seven-figure annual income.
Sharing experience with his wife, Zunainaa Abdul Majid, he said when starting a hybrid grouper industry in 2011, he was often ridiculed and disparaged by the villagers because of the lack of knowledge about fish seeding and hybrid grouper as the market had not been developed. "Initially the villagers told me, 'How are you going to put 500 fish in 500 litres of water, it's more like fertilizer.' What they said was true and the fish died. "I admit that in the beginning, I did not have the knowledge and did not know the proper way to breed the fish, but when I got the guidance of the State Fisheries Department and FRI, I managed to learn and become the largest hybrid grouper seed producer in the area," he said.
Fakaruddin said the state government's assistance in providing land around the Kampung Air Tawar coast was crucial and he also received aid to build a RM500,000 hatchery from the Fisheries Department to enable him to carry out hybrid grouper egg spawning.
He added that the process of producing hybrid grouper seed was quite complicated especially during the fertilization of grouper fish eggs between male giant groupers and female tiger groupers to produce hybrid groupers. "At first I only had eight fish tanks, now I have more than 200 tanks divided into five phases," said Fakaruddin who is currently employing 12 workers. More interestingly, Fakaruddin's success not only contributed to the livelihood of his family but he also inspired 30 locals to follow his footstep by starting a hybrid grouper seed spawning project. The soaring price of grouper seed due to local and foreign demand also enabled the commercialisation of hyrbid grouper breeding from seeds to fish stock.
Compared to other fish, hybrid groupers have higher commercial and this species of fish is also hardier with faster yield and is easier to breed.
"Now I am also supplying fish fingerlings to other local entrepreneurs as well as to sell fish seeds to the market throughout the country. The current market price of hybrid grouper seeds reaches RM6,000 to RM10,000 per million and fish fingerlings of four to five inches can be sold ranging from RM5 to RM7 per piece," said the pioneer breeder who is now capable of producing at least 30,000 hybrid grouper fingerlings a month. Meanwhile, Terengganu State Fisheries Department officer Mariam Marip said Terengganu was now a major producer of marine seedlings after recording the production of 1.6 million hybrid grouper seeds last year. "For hybrid groupers, our production volume is still inadequate because of the high demand due to its high commercial potential and now the market price can reach up to RM45 per kilogramme compared to only RM19 per kilogramme for sea bass.
"Through the state government and FRI Tanjung Demong initiatives, more people are going into hybrid grouper breeding and they are provided with courses and guidance on seeding and breeding groupers, including hybrid groupers," she said. Bernama