S’wak empowered to issue deep-sea fishing licences, but sector held back by lack of vessels, says minister

SERIAN (March 6): Sarawak is now empowered to issue Zone C2 (deep-sea fishing) licences under the devolution of powers from the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), said State Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.

However, the sector has yet to take off due to a lack of vessels and capable operators, he added.

“Although the state has so far issued two licences, the companies involved have not begun operations.

“We have issued two so far, but operation-wise they have not really gone ahead with it because of the vessel issue,” he said during a working visit to Ecofarm Solutions Sdn Bhd in Kampung Panchor here.

Dr Rundi explained that companies cannot purchase fishing vessels from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, or China due to security concerns, meaning they would need to build their own or source them elsewhere.

He also noted that most existing fishing companies in Sarawak are relatively small and may lack the capacity for deep-sea operations.

Currently, the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) is among the few entities potentially capable of such large-scale ventures.

“At the moment, fishing communities are still using the normal traditional way. We are looking at how to advance all these fishery vessels and so on,” he said.

Sarawak has nearly 1,000 kilometres of coastline with significant untapped fisheries potential, said Dr Rundi, while cautioning that foreign operators with advanced vessels should not be allowed to exploit the state’s resources.

“The state must proceed cautiously, particularly when dealing with foreign fishing operators who possess advanced capabilities, including vessels that can process fish entirely onboard.

“We cannot allow someone from outside to do the harvesting of our fish here,” he said.

Dr Rundi also revealed plans to establish a new fisheries department to better regulate and support the industry.

“The regulatory framework under the relevant fisheries ordinance will be announced during the upcoming Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting.

“The new department would help improve regulation of fishing activities, fish landings and industry development,” he said.

He added that while the state has the authority to issue C2 licences, development will remain limited without sufficient capacity.

“No matter how many licences we issue, if they don’t go out to sea, we will still be the same,” he said.

He added that the state government hopes to accelerate development of the fisheries industry once the new regulatory framework and institutional arrangements are in place.