PETALING JAYA: The amount of fish caught in Malaysian waters has fallen by nearly 300,000 tonnes since 2016 as concerns rise over the impact of climate change.
The country’s fishermen netted 1.57mil tonnes of fish and other marine species in 2016, according to Department of Fisheries (DoF) statistics.
Since then, their catch has declined by about three percent each year to 1.31mil tonnes in 2022.
The DoF in a report published in June said the outlook for this year is also gloomy.
It anticipates that the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon could cause a further drop by about 70,000 tonnes this year to 1.24mil tonnes.
Many types of seafood are affected by the declining catch.
They include Pelaling/Temenong, Tenggiri and Kembong, which the Department of Statistics listed as the top three most consumed fish on a per capita basis in Malaysia.
Pelaling/Temenong recorded a 27% drop, with 137,679 tonnes caught in 2016 but only 100,694 tonnes last year.
Tenggiri saw a smaller drop of -2.2% for the same period, while Kembong recorded a -28.7% decline.
Use the table below to find out how your favourite marine fish is affected by the declining catch.
Where does our marine seafood come from?
Perak is number one for marine fish landings at 301,000 tonnes last year, according to the DoF’s figures.
Sabah is second at 230,000 tonnes while Selangor is third at 171,000 tonnes.
Reasons for the decline
Several factors are to blame for the decline in the country’s fish landings.
The drop from 2020 to 2022 for instance is due among others to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The DoF in a report said that the pandemic had caused changes in consumer demand, market disruption, logistics difficulties, movement control order and lockdowns.
Last month, DoF director-general Datuk Adnan Hussain called for immediate action to address the decline.
He attributed the drop to rising temperatures and acidification of oceans due to increasing carbon dioxide emissions in the upper atmosphere.
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Human activities, carbon dioxide release and ocean acidification
Prof. Datuk Dr Aileen Tan Shau Hwai from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said certain types of human activities are collectively releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
They include the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, the swift growth of agriculture, urbanisation, and industrial operations.
“Around a third to a half of these carbon dioxides in the atmosphere will be dissolved in the sea water which leads to ocean acidification.
“And with the rising sea surface temperature, the ocean acidification reaction will be speed up,” added Tan, who is director of the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies at USM.
The surge in ocean acidity leads to a scarcity of carbonate, a crucial component for the construction of hard exteriors by coral and shellfish.
This impacts the coral reef ecosystems and shellfish to form their shells and skeleton.
Tan said coral reefs serve as critical nursing grounds for commercially significant fish species.
When ocean acidification intensifies, the corals become brittle and easily break which reduces breeding available area for fish.
“Ocean acidification may alter the growth, development, and survival of marine organisms, particularly affecting vulnerable early life stages, like juvenile fish struggling to find suitable habitats,” she added.
Demand up, production down
One challenge the country needs to deal with is how to meet growing demand for seafood amid a declining catch.
Malaysians, after all, are big on seafood.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranked Malaysia ninth globally in 2020, in terms of per capita consumption of fish and seafood.
The FAO said a Malaysian on average ate 53.3kg of fish and seafood a year.
In first place was Maldives with 87.3kg per capita, followed by Iceland (84.3kg) and Macao (70.3kg).
Maldives top the chart with 87.30kg per capita, followed by Iceland at second place at 84.3kg and Macao came third place at 70.3kg.
Need to catch up
Many countries are increasingly turning to aquaculture – breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants – in order to meet fast growing demand.
This is not the case in Malaysia.
Despite a worldwide surge in fish farming, Malaysia’s aquaculture is still much smaller compared to marine fish landings.
Aquaculture accounts for between 20%-30% of Malaysia’s total fish and seafood production, while the remaining 70% is from capture fisheries, according to figures in the government's data portal dof.gov.my.
The way forward
Associate Professor Lim Po Teen from Universiti Malaya (UM) said modernized aquaculture or specifically marine aquaculture (mariculture) is the way forward for Malaysia.
He said that mariculture can meet the country’s demand for seafood and help mitigate climate change risks and declining marine fish landings.
“Mariculture enables an efficient farming of seafood in specified zones,” said Lim, who is senior lecturer in UM’s Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences.
“It can provide a more consistent and reliable supply of seafood throughout the year,” he added.
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