Counting on big tuna catch

Easy does it: Ahmad Shabery cutting tuna with help from GST Group consultant Tetsuya Yanagida (right). With them is Tan (left).

BUTTERWORTH: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry hopes to achieve a nationwide catch of 130,000 tonnes of tuna worth RM1bil, cumulatively from now until 2020.

Its minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the ministry, through the Fisheries Department’s efforts, is also looking forward to catching RM300mil worth of tuna from the Indian Ocean alone over the same period, by issuing licences to 135 vessels.