THE rising prices of fish has gotten the attention of The Council of Eminent Persons, which is now looking into ways to reduce it.

Marine Fish Farmers’ Association Malaysia deputy president Mohamed Razali Mohamed said based on the questions raised in the meeting, the council is finding solutions to reduce the prices of household fish (ikan rakyat).

“The council is very concerned about the rising prices of fish and seafood in general, and the council is getting feedback from industry players to see what action can be taken to lessen the burden of the people, specifically on the prices of fish and seafood.

“What the council is concerned about is that every year we are spending more for food from our salary. They are looking into ways on how to reduce that,” he told reporters outside of Ilham Tower today.

He said the increase in prices depends on the type of fish but he cited mackerel (kembung) as an example, where it was only RM5 per kg 10 years ago but has increased to more than RM12 per kg today.

Razali said the increase in price was due to supply shortage which could not meet the demand. He said Malaysia has the fourth highest fish consumer per capita in the world.

Currently, Razali said Malaysians consume between 1.6 and 1.8 million tonnes of fish a year but only 1.7 million tonnes are caught and harvested locally.

Out of the 1.7 million tonnes, 300,000 tonnes are freshwater fish, which are not the locals’ favourite, while another 400,000 tonnes are trash fish, which are not consumable.

“It leaves us about 1 million tonne of marine fish and the problem is that it doesn’t meet our demand of 1.6 to 1.8 million tonne annually,” he said.

On ways to overcome the matter, Razali said in the short term, importing fish is recommended.

“We can import more fish. Right now we import from Thailand and Indonesia but those countries need their fish as well and their population is a lot bigger,” said Razali.

As for a long term solution, Razali suggested for the expansion of local fish farming as well as deep sea fishing. – June 12, 2018.