Malaysia's coastal fisher folk are losing their livelihoods as fish stocks decline

Arrest, robbery, vessel seizure – these are just some of the risks that Malaysia’s coastal fishermen must deal with to make a living now that they are forced to travel further offshore to catch fish.

Maritime and environmental experts blame years of overfishing, destructive fishing practices and poaching by foreign fishermen for the precipitous decline of fish stocks in Malaysia’s coastal waters, and even the disappearance of some fish species.

A study conducted by the Fisheries Department in 2016 found that there is just 4.4% of fish biomass left in the waters off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia – an amount that the department predicts will only last another 30 years.

R.AGE, The Star’s investigative team, spoke to fishermen earlier this year in Kuantan and Johor about the problems they face.

A fish stall at Pasar Pontian. With fish becoming scare, prices have increased for some types of fish, however, depleted populations means making even a small catch is a challenge. — ALIZA SHAH & JOHENSON GOH

A trip with no return

Veteran fisher Rosilawati Ismail, 44, was happy to go out fishing again with her husband off the coast of Kuantan earlier this year after a long break necessitated by the monsoon season. But after hours spent at sea, the couple came back disappointed.

“We spent RM120 (on fuel) to go out there but we came back with a catch worth about RM45 – we didn’t even cover our costs,” she says.

Rosilawati has been fishing for about 14 years but nowadays, she says, fishermen more often than not come back empty-handed.

Add the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on the economy to the lack of fish and the financial struggle is immense, especially as Rosilawati’s husband died from cancer last month.

While the economic impact on her community is clearly a concern, Rosilawati is equally alarmed by the longer-term environmental impact of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the South China Sea. She believes the rapid depletion of fish stocks is due to IUU fishers – especially foreign vessels that enter Malaysian waters. They destroy coral reefs using illegal trawler nets, which Malaysian fisher folk call “pukat gading”.

“They use two vessels and a huge net is tied to a vessel on each side,” she explains. “As they move, they will catch everything, even the smallest fish, and destroy anything in their way, including corals.

“Without corals, the seabed becomes bare. It’s like a desert – what would want to live in a desert?”

While some Malaysian fishermen and women share stories of simpler times when they would occasionally meet fisher folk from neighbouring countries out at sea and exchange pleasantries, it seems the mood is becoming increasingly confrontational – a reflection of geopolitical tensions among the countries in this region, fuelled by disputes over maritime territories.

Rosilawati, for example, recalls the time her nets were once rammed by a large trawler that was in the area illegally, costing her RM2,000 in losses.

Ibrahim Ismail, 55, is in the same predicament. A recent fishing trip off Kuantan’s coast saw him return with only two senangin (striped threadfin) fish.

“In the past, I could earn RM700 to RM800 from catching senangin, now it’s hard for me to even catch 10 fish per trip,” he says.

These problems are not confined to the East Coast.

In Pontian, Johor, R.AGE meets with Mohd Zuhir Lamsah, 49, just after he received his payment from a tauke (businessman) who helps to sell his catch at a local market.

“This is from yesterday’s catch. I got RM108 and if you minus RM50 for diesel and maybe RM50 or RM60 for my bait, I’m left with nothing,” he says, showing us his receipt.

Another seasoned fisherman in the area, Abd Aziz Rahmat, 52, says fishermen there are earning less than 10% of what they earned a few years ago.

“In the past, we could earn a net profit of about RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month, but now even RM300 is difficult for us to get,” he says.

Poaching and destructive fishing methods

Near-shore habitats serve as nurseries for fish, replenishing fish populations. Tragically, over the years these habitats have been destroyed by destructive fishing methods.

Part-time fisherman Mazlin Rahmat, 42, from Pontian, explains: “Some fishermen use the tagan net, which is a type of static net. When that gets stuck on corals, the corals will break or sometimes even get pulled right out of the seabed.

“This type of net is illegal under the Fisheries Act 1985,” he says.

The ecosystem is further destroyed when fishermen use illegal trawler nets that trap not only adult fish but also the fry. Without fry to mature and breed, there is no way to sustain fish populations.

According to Abd Aziz, “Trawler nets should have a 15cm mesh but some have been reduced to just 6cm because they simply can’t catch the bigger fish anymore.

“But when they do that, now even the smaller fish become trapped in the nets.”

Adding to the problem is competition from IUU foreign fishing boats. Over 10,000 fishermen have been arrested by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for encroachment between 2006 and 2019.

“Our waters feel barren ever since we started seeing Vietnamese fishing boats in our waters. They enter into areas that are supposed to be only for coastal fishermen and damage the coral reefs. When this happens, the fish will no longer return,” Rosilawati reiterates.

Coastal habitat loss has forced marine life to move into deeper waters, affecting the livelihood of coastal fishermen whose licenses and fishing tools only allow them to fish within 46km off the coast.

“In the past I would travel about 8km and I could get kembong (Indian mackerel), kerisi (golden threadfin bream) and selar (yellowtail scad), now I have no choice but to go at least 40km out to sea to come back with something,” Rosilawati says.

As for deep-sea fishermen, even though they are still making money on their trips, fishing further out isn’t as easy as it used to be either, says Zulkifli Dagang, 44, from Kuantan. “There’s not much difference between what we are catching now and what we caught then, it’s just that now we have to work harder.

“For example, in the past we might catch a certain amount of fish with the first throw of the net, now we have to do it two or three times to get the same amount of fish as before,” says Zulkifli, who travels for days to catch fish in the deep-sea zone.

A risk they’re willing to take

Some desperate Malaysian fishermen now venture into foreign waters to make their catch. Pontian fishermen often end up beyond Malaysia’s waters because the Indonesian maritime border is so close there.

“I have no choice but to enter Indonesian waters almost every day. This is the only way for me to survive.

“Their coral reefs are very much alive so fish will surely be there,” Mohd Zuhir says.

Adding to the problem is the fact that the exact maritime border between Malaysia and Indonesia isn’t always clear.

Countries in the region have been deadlocked over maritime territorial disputes for years – and the people who have to live with the fallout from uncertain borders are often the fisher folk.

Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik, 52, had an anxious moment when he was arrested by Indonesian authorities last October.

“The distance between Malaysia and Indonesia is narrower here in Pontian, so fishermen following fish trails will sometimes stray into Indonesian waters.

“But that time, I was sure I was still inside Malaysian waters when the Indonesian authorities arrested me. I was pulled further into their waters and interrogated.

“Luckily I was then released,” he recounts.

Officers from the MMEA confirm such incidents. However, when contacted, the Indonesian consulate in Johor said they aren’t aware of such incidents, adding that under normal circumstances the Indonesian authorities will inform their respective Malaysian counterparts of such arrests and vice-versa.

“Either the Malaysian embassy will contact the Indonesian Foreign Ministry or the Malaysian Mari-time Enforcement Agency will contact us,” a spokesperson says.

R.AGE finds out about another supposed intimidation tactic by foreign authorities: “Last year some fishermen were forced to stop their boat and pull back their nets while they were catching fish near Pulau Pisang (off Johor),” a source says.

This incident, along with some others, including Jamaluddin’s experience, could simply be one of the “unofficial” encounters between Malaysian fishermen and Indonesian authorities that are not reported.

Abd Aziz, who is a friend of Jamaluddin’s, says he has been arrested multiple times and while he does worry about his safety, he believes there isn’t much else he can do.

“We leave everything in God’s hands. I was stopped by Indonesian authorities multiple times but they don’t act aggressively. Normally they will just chase me out,” he says.

Another friend, Zaini Ali, 40, however, was not so lucky.

“When I was stopped they took away my catch. It was about 15kg of fish, worth about RM600,” says the fisherman, adding that he believes he was still in Malaysian waters when this happened in October 2020.

The three men also share stories of out and out robbery when fishermen are targeted reportedly by sea-robbers.

Fishing culture dying out?

While fish is becoming more scarce, consumer demand for seafood is not getting any lower. This has resulted in a huge increase in the price of certain sought after types of seafood.

“Ten years ago senangin, for example, cost about RM18 or RM19 per kilo, but now it will sell for about RM30 per kg,” says Mazlin.

Despite this potential to earn more, depleted populations mean making even a small catch is a challenge.

“I went fishing for three days. The first two days I came back with nothing. On the third day I got three red snappers which earned me about RM1,000,” Mazlin says.

Struggling to sustain their livelihoods with fishing, some coastal fishermen are venturing into ecotourism.

They have found that they can supplement their income by taking amateur fishing enthusiasts out on their boats to experience sea fishing.

“I’ve emptied my pockets but luckily I received a booking from some people who wanted to go out fishing.

“What’s even luckier is that our tauke was willing to put up the money for diesel upfront and allow me to pay it back later, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to accept these customers,” says Mazlin.

Rasid Md Said, 51, who also lives in Pontian, is tapping his creative side and designing bamboo ships and other ocean-themed handicraft for sale as a means to supplement his income nowadays:

“I once sold pisang goreng but when the competition became too much I had to stop. So now I try my luck selling handicraft, both physically and online.” (Rasid's craft is available for sale at Pt Penghulu Jetty in Pontion or by calling him at 017-827 9917. Sample picture at Kraftangan Nelayan on Facebook, which was set up by Rasid’s daughter.)

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This story was produced by The Star’s investigative team R.AGE under Oceans Inc, a crossborder investigative project by the Environmental Reporting Collective on illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. Read the full investigation into regional fisheries at www.oceansinc.earth.