MOA drawing up blueprint for fishery sector to boost fishermen's income

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 -- The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) is drawing up the Fishery Sector Development Plan covering the whole market value chain and fishermen's well-being. 

Its minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said among the blueprint's main focus would be to strengthen the fishermen associations’ role in increasing the market share, shortening the market value chain and creating alternative market avenues such as online selling or e-commerce to help raise fishermen’s income. 

"The ministry is also studying the feasibility of setting up a fishery consortium that is capable of playing its role in the government's efforts of looking after the fishermen's welfare and improving their standard of living," he said during the winding-up session for the ministry on the Supply Bill 2020 in the Dewan Negara, today.

He said the ministry was also providing fish landing incentive and diesel subsidy aimed at alleviating fishermen's operating cost and to encourage fish landing at the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority’s designated jetties and complexes.

He explained that the ratio of fish landing to diesel subsidy was one kg of fish for each litre of diesel and this incentive indirectly increased their catch and subsequently their income.

Salahuddin also said that to stabilise fish price in the market, the ministry was in the process of re-engineering the fish market chain to minimise middlemen’s involvement in determining the price. 

He said the ministry also planned to request for an allocation of RM70 million under the 12th Malaysia Plan for technology transfer-related programmes for the target group towards increasing the use Industrial Revolution 4.0 technology in the agrofood sector.

-- BERNAMA