CONSUMER may complain about the higher price of fish in Penang but bad weather is forcing cash-strapped fishermen stay at home because they cannot afford to repair their damaged boats.

Fishermen in Teluk Bahang, like Mohd Fitri Mohd Sharif, will have to depend on the RM300 allowance from the government and what little savings they have following Saturday’s storm that caused massive flooding in Penang.

Fitri, a 34-year-old father of four, said he had just enough money to support his family of for the time being. The allowance from the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) will be used to buy milk and diapers for his youngest child, aged 2. His other children are 3, 7 and 13.

“I depend on savings to buy other basic necessities for the family,” he said when asked how fishermen like him will survive in the aftermath of the storm with broken boats and the possibility of more bad weather.

Teluk Bahang on the northwestern coast of Penang island is home to some 400 fishermen. Like Fitri, the work is passed from father to son, and fishing is all they know.

“I will have to find another job if bad weather continues. The problem is, I have never taken a second job before and I am not sure what kind of work would suit me,” he said.

“I have been a fisherman since I was 15.”

His father, Mohd Sharif Mohd Ali, 64, started fishing when he was just 12. The elderly man, who also receives LKIM’s RM300 allowance, said there was no other option but for them to go out to sea.

“I have no other skill. We will only have money when we fish,” he said.

Penang fishermen earn between RM100 and RM200 a day when they go out to sea. In the good months, they can earn up to RM1,000 a day.

The allowance is a lifeline for fishermen when bad weather strikes, and Sharif and Fitri can afford to sit out a few days of bad weather before returning to sea.

But Ahmad Junaidi Ahmad Juhari is not so fortunate. He operates his fishing boat without a licence.

The 33-year-old’s boat was badly damaged on Sunday, when strong waves smashed it against some rocks. Fixing it will cost thousands of ringgit, money he does not have.

It was never his intention to operate illegally, he said, but his repeated applications for a license had been rejected without reason.

Unable to work without a boat and unable to pay for repairs, Junaidi said he planned to ask a friend if he could tag along and fish from his boat.

“I cannot just stay at home and let my 5-year-old daughter starve. I have to work, somehow,“ he said.

Teluk Bahang fishermen supply fish to the whole of Penang. Their counterparts in Kuala Muda in the neighbouring state of Kedah supplement this supply.

But in this bad weather, “even if the stubborn ones” go out to sea, supply won’t be enough for Penang, said LKIM Teluk Bahang branch senior manager Mohd Kamal Mohd Hassan.

He said consumers should expect the price of fish to go up by 30% if the situation persisted.

“My wife who went to the market today, said there was no fish on sale. So, be prepared to see a price increase of 30% or more… if the bad weather continues,” he said.

He said LKIM provided aid to licensed members whose boats or homes were damaged by bad weather.

The fisheries authority is assessing the losses incurred by Penang fishermen before aid is disbursed by the federal government. – November 8, 2017.