Tuna fish industry must be taken seriously — Ahmad Shabery
BUTTERWORTH: The government is committed to developing the tuna fish industry in the country as it can generate national income and is expected to earn RM1 billion in returns by 2020.
Agriculture and Agro- Based Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said hence, the industry must be taken seriously and to date, two ports had been registered as ‘designated tuna ports’, namely the Penang Port Deep Sea Wharf and Tanjung Lembung Port in Langkawi, Kedah.
“The government encourages tuna landings at the ports which have been registered with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission ( IOTC),” he told reporters after the landing of tuna brought by the Malaysian cargo ship Kha Yang 333 to the Deep Water Wharf, here, yesterday.
Ahmad Shabery said this year, the ministry targeted landings of 3,000 tonnes of tuna worth RM60 million at Penang Port.
“Penang is bigger than Langkawi and it is major ( port), its facilities are better than Langkawi’s, so we hope to achieve the targeted tuna fish landings. So far ( as of September 2017), 1,100 tonnes had been landed at this port,” he said.
The minister said in the 1980’s, Penang was known for its tuna landings, but this activity dwindled when many tuna fish entrepreneurs relocated to other countries.
“Now, we want to attract them back to our country, especially those who have the licence or quota to catch tuna,” he said.
Ahmad Shabery said besides tuna landings, other elements which would be developed here included fish processing as it had a bigger added value.
He said last year, tuna landings in Malaysia totalled 76,500 tonnes and this could be increased to 100,000 tonnes this year.
Most of the tuna caught in Malaysia are of the neritic or coastal water species such as skipjack (tongkol/aya jalur) and longtail ( tongkol/aya itam ).
At the event yesterday, Ahmad Shabery also witnessed the landings of 520 tonnes of tuna fish of the albacore, yellowfin and bigeye species worth RM8 million from a cargo ship owned by Kha Yang Marine Sdn Bhd. — Bernama