Activities Report Jul 2000 Newsletter
THREAT TO SABAH FISHING GROUND
News of using bombs, poison and illegal
trawling causing widespread damage to coral reefs and fish stocking are
not new to public knowledge. Use of these destructive fishing techniques
is illegal and has been curbed to some extent but still continues in more
remote areas, for example Semporna reef in Sabah. There has been a marked
decline in fisheries over the last decade in these areas.
Breakage of corals as a result
of fish blasting or trawling close to the reefs, and removal of coral for
building material are the main causes of reef destruction. Considerable
damage has been done in the past, particularly on the west coast of Sabah,
especially in Kota Kinabalu and Labuan areas.
Also reefs around Kudat Town were noticeably damaged
in the 1970’s by coral mining and dynamiting. Dynamite fishing involves
throwing a homemade bomb into a school of pelagic fish or into a reef.
The underwater shock kills all animals within a given radius (depending
on the size of the bomb) and sometimes kills or maims the fish in the process.
The method is totally unacceptable on the following grounds:
- it is non-selective: juvenile and non-edible fish are killed
together with target species. If young/juvenile fishes die or are overharvested,
there will be not enough fish to grow into maturity and the future fisheries
yields will be affected. The reef community as a whole suffers from indiscriminate
destruction; and
- reef habitat is damaged and eventually may be
destroyed, reducing productivity for an extended period of time.
The
use of traditional fish poison (‘tuba’) is not well studied, but from a
bio-diversity standpoint, causes the same problem as dynamite. Modern chemicals
are sometimes used to ‘stun’ fish for live fish markets and aquarium trade.
The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)
is greatly concerned regarding this matter. Such methods will lead to dire
consequences to our coral reef ecosystems and if these activities continue,
it would result in a great loss to the nation. MNS hopes that the authorities
of Sabah and other states will put up a better enforcement and stop these
illegal activities immediately. However, for more effective enforcement,
adequate funding should be provided to these agencies, or we may soon lose
our fisheries and tourism resource.
Kuala Lumpur, 10 April 2000
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Created on 5th Jul 2000