KOTA KINABALU: More than 200 Sabah fishermen are set to benefit from a joint sustainable livelihood collaboration agreed between the state government and PETRONAS.
Following the inking of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday (Feb 17), the national oil company and the Sabah government, through the state Fisheries Department will supply 40 Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) to fishing communities in the state over a period of two years.
The FAD project serves to create an alternative fishing ground away from restricted zones.
Besides that, the project, a safety outreach programme for coastal communities, was also aimed at educating fishermen on the dangers of vessel encroachment within the 500m safety radius surrounding PETRONAS’ offshore operations.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, who witnessed the MOU signing ceremony, said the 40 FADs will be placed in waters all over the state beginning in March.
"One of the focuses of this device is to help deep-sea fishermen, particularly those in the yellow fin tuna sector, to improve their income.
"I thank PETRONAS for agreeing to sponsor the FAD units and I hope there will be more collaborations between the company and the state government after this," said Kitingan, who is also the state Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister.
At the signing ceremony at a hotel here, PETRONAS was represented by its petroleum operations management of Malaysia petroleum management (MPM) head Handan Ramli while the Sabah Fisheries Department was represented by its director Azhar Kassim.
Signing as witnesses were PETRONAS general counsel of MPM, Shahriman Johan Noor and State Fisheries Department senior assistant director of fisheries, Lawrence Kissol.
Also present were PETRONAS senior vice president of MPM, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, and Sabah and Labuan PETRONAS head Siti Ayu Abdul Wahab.
Handan said the collaboration was a testament of the mutually beneficial relationship between PETRONAS and the state which aims to positively impact the fishermen communities while ensuring a sustainable marine biodiversity.
"Through this project, we also hope to minimise encroachment incidents and further mitigate safety issues faced by the fishermen in Sabah waters," he said.
Azhar said the department would identify eligible fishermen to receive the FADs, which cost about RM40,000 per unit.
The FAD usually consists of buoys or floats tied to the ocean floor with concrete blocks.
"The fishermen must be genuine ones who are registered and have tuna fishing licenses with the Fisheries Department.
"We will select the fishermen and distribute the FADs for them to cast on their own at proper areas that have already been identified," he said, adding there were some 90 tuna fishermen registered with the department.
