Do not use beam trawl to catch shrimps, dept reminds

MIRI: Malaysian Fishery Department is firm in not allowing fishermen to use beam trawl ( Pakak Tunda) to catch shrimps during the shrimp season.

Its state director Belayong Nyuak said the use of bean trawl could destroy coral reefs which are breeding grounds for marine life including shrimps.

Its use is also banned under the Fishery Department Act, 1985.

The department had a second meeting with fishermen in Zone B and C concerning the do’s and don’t’s of catching shrimps (bubok) at Pustaka Miri yesterday.

The department’s Human Resource director Tan Geik Hong, Bintawa Fishery Institute Research officer Hadil Rajali, representative from Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Miri, Marine Police and Miri Fishermen Association chairman Councillor Jamali Basri were also present.

According to Belayong, the department still banned beam trawl because everything in its path would be destroyed – small marine life and coral reefs.

He said a research they and Unimas students conducted in 2012 and 2015 showed that shrimp (bubuk) catch had decreased by 47 per cent. He said coop net (Pakak) and Sobor were allowed to be used to catch shrimp as it did not destroy other marine life.

Coop net is traditionally used by fishermen here to catch shrimps while Sobor is a kind of net fixed to the boat used to also catch shrimps.

“We hope that fishermen here will use the permitted equipment to catch shrimps during its season in March.

According to their statistics last year some 3,832mt of shrimps were caught in 2016, bringing home RM15.3 million in revenue for the fishermen.

In the first four months of this year, some 1,000mt of shrimps were caught, valued at RM5 million.

Miri, Bintulu and Lawas are three major areas where shrimps are abundantly found in Sarawak. There are also 72 vessels licensed to catch shrimps in Miri and a further 35 vessels without licence.

In Bintulu, 23 licences are issued to such vessels while 13 are unlicensed vessels fitted with Sobor, Songkor and Lengkong to catch shrimps.

Belayong (seated second left) is being shown a photograph of nets allowed to be used to catch shrimps by Hadil (seated fourth left) while Tan (seated third left) and others look on.