Dept Uses Artificial Reefs to Boost Fish Production

Fisheries Department director general Datuk Junaidi Che Ayub said it was among the measures taken to overcome a depletion of marine resources and prevent trawlers from encroaching onto the shoreline to catch fish, The Star reports.

"This means of rehabilitating marine resources and habitats has proven effective," Datuk Junaidi Che Ayub told The Star.

"It will deter fishing vessels with trawl nets or dragnets from moving to the shoreline especially during the monsoon season as their nets will be damaged if they're caught in the reefs," he told reporters before releasing 16 tetrapod artificial reefs in Cherok Paloh here recently.

Each concrete tetrapod cost RM10,000.

Junaidi said it would take 18 months for the area to be turned into a fishing ground.

Earlier in his speech, Junaidi said that fishermen could increase their incomes by increasing catches and using fishing grounds as eco-tourism products, The Star reports.

They could bring in tourists for fishing like in Kedah where fishermen charged RM400 for a trip and RM800 for those who wanted to spend a night at sea, he added.

Junaidi also said that RM9.4million had been set aside for the artificial reef programme under the Ninth Malaysian Plan.

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