Penang reclamation will hit fish supply, prices

Sheridan Mahavera Sheridan Mahavera Updated 4 years ago · Published on 26 Jul 2019 7:00AM · 2 Comments

Environmental activists and fishermen protesting against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) more than a fortnight ago at the entrance of Parliament. – The Malaysian Insight by Hasnoor Hussain. July 26, 2019.

PENANG’S controversial reclamation project will impact on the nation’s fish supply and could drive up prices for a household staple, Malaysia’s top fisheries authority told The Malaysian Insight.

Sand mining in waters off the coast of Perak for the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) would destroy fish-breeding grounds that currently supply the biggest chunk of landed fish in Malaysia, said the Fisheries Development Board (LKIM).

According to LKIM’s data, Perak supplies about 30% of all landed fish in the country, the highest among all states.

LKIM chairman Faiz Fadzil said the state governments must meet with the fishermen of their respective states to look into these concerns as about 800 and 6,000 fishermen in Penang and Perak respectively, stand to lose their livelihoods.

LKIM is prepared to be a mediator for such a meeting, said Faiz, as each state government is responsible for fishermen communities in its respective region.

“There is basis for the fishermen’s concerns. Any reclamation project will threaten fish eco-systems and their breeding grounds. The only question is how much of an impact,” Faiz told The Malaysian Insight.

“Perak is the state with the highest fish landings so any impact on its supply will impact prices.”

PSR aims to build three artificial islands off the southern coast of Penang island. The state intends to use the three man-made islands, covering more than 1,800ha, to fund an ambitious RM46 billion transport master plan.

The Penang South Reclamation project consists of three man-made islands, which will affect the livelihood of fishermen in the area. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, July 26, 2019.

Environmentalists and community groups have opposed the PSR as well as the transport master plan, which includes cutting hills, building highways and an undersea tunnel connecting Penang island to the mainland.

Perak fishermen and local green group Kuasa claimed that the PSR’s environmental impact assessment report (EIA) reveals that sand for the project will be mined from Perak.

According to the EIA, more than 189 million cubic metres of sand would be needed and miners plan to extract this from four areas about 20 nautical miles from the Manjung coast.

Perak fishermen’s association chairman Mansor Yusof said sand mining destroys fishing grounds because the turbid water it produces suffocates sea life.

“It will also erode the coastline which will then destroy nearby mangrove forests which are important fish spawning areas,” Mansor added.

As fishing landings decrease in Perak, the supply for local fish nationwide will be affected and this will drive up prices.

LKIM’s Faiz added that the Agriculture and Agro-based Ministry was also conducting its own study on the PSR’s impact on the fishing industry and would bring these concerns to Perak and Penang.

“The national physical planning council is also doing its own study on all aspects of PSR’s impact and we hope that this can be revealed soon.” – July 26, 2019.

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Comments

  • Fish stocks have been in decline for years thanks to pollution and overfishing. Most of the fishes caught today are more plastic than fish thanks to microplastics that litter the oceans.

    Posted 4 years ago by Alfie Yap · Reply

  • On July 16, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub quoted was quoted as saying fishery production value of RM555 million per year in the PSR area will be affected.

    Assuming this is jetty price, retail price is probably nearly doubled at RM1bil? (Correct me?) Divided by say 2 mil people surrounding the area in Penang and Perak in the next 20 years, that would still be RM500 per person per year. That is RM2000 per family of 4. That is each family's food cost component of RM2000 per year current price is being impacted.

    Since we know that kembong, sardine, prawn, cockle prices could shoot up 2x, 3x, 5x even 10x over a decade when supplies are severely damaged, we can expect Penangites and Perakians to be spending perhaps RM2k-RM10k more in the next decade to maintain the current living standard.

    Or accept lower living standards.

    That is what happened with cockles. While Dr. Afif joked about "Let them eat oysters!" when people complained about expensive and unavailable cockles, there is one thing everyone has overlooked:

    Cockles were used in curry mee or CKT actually because they were cheap, undesirable, dirty-looking. Just like small prawns in Hokkien used to be part of an idiom: "No fish to eat, well, put up with prawns lah!" (bo hu hae ya ho). Prawn was cheap and undesirable.

    So it has been a reflection of tight living standards that we had accepted cockles (and prawn head boileds in soup) and other cheaper seafood as classic. It is a DETERIORATION of living standards that they have now become unavailable. And now we are FURTHER expecting even worse scenario to come in terms of the destruction of our sea environment.

    I am not a "class struggle" theory guy. But the politicians have obviously been eating too much tax-paid oysters in government function buffets.

    Posted 4 years ago by K S · Reply