Saw this disgusting scene after a night sheltering behind one of the islands in P9 on 16 Dec 2007. Small trawler boat carrying out trawling activity less than 500m from the shore. Tekong anchor line tangled with the same trawler net few weeks ago. Which means these guys bulldoze very close to the bottom of the seabed. There go the juvenile fishes.
Ever asked one illiterate Indon fisherman in Bali how was the trawling activity in his village. His answer will shame the most ‘civilized’ and ‘sophisticated’ Bolehland authorities and fishermen. ‘If anyone dares to do it here the boat will be sunken the very next day by the villagers (of course not suggesting same thing to happen here in this civilized society). We want to preserve fishery resources for our children’s children.’
Hit rates this time round dropping easily by 70-80% compare to the same period last yr when we did light casting round few islands. Not sure whether trawlers activity that cause the rapid decline or due to migratory pattern of the pelagics. Only time will tell.
We anglers are not trying to be gung-ho going against commercial fishermen. We should understand their difficulty and plight too. But again, fishery resources belong to every Malaysian and everyone is responsible to ensure sustainability resources for years to come. There should be proper set of rules (and if there is any there should be enforcement) to ensure acceptable method of harvesting to minimize damage to the sea bed and breeding ground.
So Mr Authority Sir, what are you going to do about this? We type and write till fingers numb and ink runs dry still no action taken till to-date.
Fishingboy, no, no, no! We still need to promote CnR, now more than ever.
I have seen first hand the number of fish being taken by R+L sportfishermen in Kenyir. Entry permits are required to gain access to the part of the lake I fished. Security appeared to be tight. I didn’t see any nets there. I didn’t see any set lines. In fact, the only real disturbance were houseboats on multiday trips with R+L anglers harvesting sebarau on a near commercial scale. Yes they were releasing some of their catch. But they were still killing far too many fish.
We still need to promote sustainable fishing practises before R+L anglers decimate Kenyir and ruin its status as an iconic sportfishing destination in Malaysia. Many freshwater fisheries are already in severe decline. I don’t think anglers will ever gain credibility in their fight against illegal and unregulated commercial fishing and environmentally unfriendly fishing methods unless they clean up their own act first.
Still a long way to go bro and everyone has a part to play.
Can’t agree with you more bro. Everyone has a role to play.
Since not many anglers reading environmental section, hope to see more articles on R&L and Pancing every month educating readers on environmental issues, promoting C&R etc and not just fish, fish and more fish.
Relevant authorities certainly have a bigger role to play as we can’t expect everyone to follow the ‘rule’ to preserve fishery resources. Anglers can always be the eyes and ears for them if they willing to accept us as friends (some kind of Rakan Cop concept), seriously taking into consideration people suggestion, tip off etc for betterment of all. Gaining credit will the last thing in mind as ultimate goal is to sustain fishery resources and nothing else.
