LIMBARUH HIJAU DECEMBER 3, 2006: Being a fisherman in Malaysia is no longer synonymous with being poor, going by what fishermen in Kuala Sungai Baru in Melaka have gone to prove in the past 15 years.

A recent visit by 42 local agricultural entrepreneurs and farmers to Melaka organised by Agrinduz Development Sdn Bhd reinforced the conviction that with determination and good leadership, fishing households need not have to survive hands-to-mouth forever.

Led by Haji Matzain Hj Salleh, the visitors – hosted by Warisan Baiduri Sdn Bhd and Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang Malaysia – saw how the Malaysian Government tried its very best in helping fishermen so they can climb out of the poverty well that has become synonymous trademark for fishermen and farmers.

The vast opportunities the sea can offer to fishermen . Bruneians witnessed how good government policy and implementation helped uplift the living standard of fishermen.

The Malaysian government even seconded some of its own officers who are qualified with tertiary education to run the Fishermen Association throughout the country, said Melaka Barat area fishermen's association general manager Kamarudin Yusoh who himself is an officer attached with the Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia.

“We are here to ensure the smooth running of the association. However, the association employs majority of the staff to administer the organisation,” he said.

Kamaruddin told the Brunei visitors that the Kuala Sungai Baru fishing folk have in fact transformed the place into a hub of a diversified and modern fishing industry and they are now reaping the lucrative returns.

Using the association as a vehicle for self-improvement since 1986, the fishermen now run 17 tourist chalets, a diesel kiosk, a sundry shop, a grilled-fish centre and holds a contractor's licence besides marketing members' catch direct.

Kamarudin said none of the fishermen there now questioned the wisdom of bypassing middlemen when they can sell their tenggiri (mackerel) for RM13.50 a kg direct to the association compared to only RM10.50 a kg paid by middlemen.

"Middlemen pay them only RM22 for a kg of their prawns whereas the association buys direct from them at between RM25 and RM36 a kg," he said.

Statistics are good indicators of this changing mindset about relying less and less on middlemen.

So far 75 fishing-boat owners have registered to market their catch through the association compared to only two in 1994, said Kamarudin.

Even so they accounted for only 33 per cent of the 250 boats owned by Melaka Barat fishermen and the association was determined to get 80 per cent of them to sell their catch direct through it.

Pg Ismail presenting souvenir to Shamsuddin, the association chairman[1]. Kamarudin Yusof is on the extreme left

Fishing indeed changed the fortunes of former contractor New Kim Swie, who was displaced by the 1997 economic slowdown.

He has since rebounded and now rears marine fish in 248 cages in Sungai Linggi and markets his barramundi and red tilapia throughout Melaka and to neighbouring Negeri Sembilan and the Klang Valley. Averaging a harvest of seven to eight tonnes a month, New sells his the tilapia at RM4 to RM8 a kg and RM16 a kg for the barramundi.

The returns are still lucrative notwithstanding the RM35,000 monthly feedmeal bill and the RM1,000 he spent on each cage to rear 1,000 fish fry.

No one is happier than Datuk Ibrahim Durom, the Melaka state executive councillor in charge of rural development and agriculture to see the lot of the Kuala Sungai Baru fishermen improved because he was born and bred there himself.

While commending the Melaka Barat fishermen's association for transforming the lives of the fishermen there, Ibrahim did not downplay the state government's role in erecting infrastructures like jetties and extending credit facilities to the fishermen to finance income-boosting activities.

He assured other fishing households in Melaka intending to emulate the success story of their Kuala Sungai Baru counterparts that the state government would continue to make such facilities available.

The Kuala Sungai Baru fishermen are indeed an innovative lot guided by a vision that poverty eradication is possible with dedicated officers like Kamarudin and a committed agency like Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia.

Kamaruddin thanked Warisan Baiduri Sdn Bhd for supporting the association as the catering and National Service Operating company purchased an average about RM80,000 per month worth of fish, chicken and meat from it.

“We also loaned money to our members who wanted to purchase fishing equipments and accessories. “The loan is payable through deduction of their catch every month,” he said.

He added that all its members now drive cars or ride motorcycles. “There is an old member who is still riding a bicycle not because he could not afford to buy car or motorcycle but unable to do because of his age,” he said.

Pg Hj Ismail Pg Hj Ali who is the chairman of Koperasi Nelayan Kuala Belait said he was impressed with the set-up of fishing association in Malaysia.

“We learned a lot from their experience where with the support of the Malsysian agency they managed to elevate the standard of living of fishermen in the country. We must take heed from the experience in order to elevate the standard of fishing in the sultanate,” he said.