MELAKA, July 24 — Three islands proposed to be gazetted as Melaka Marine Parks are currently in the final stages of the gazetting process which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries I Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.

He said the gazetting of Pulau Undan, Pulau Nangka and Pulau Dodol under Section 41 of the Fisheries Act 1985 (Act 317) had been brought to the federal level following the approval by the state government recently.

He said the process was taking a while as it involved various processes and laws.

"The move to gazette the islands is important to guarantee the sustainability of fisheries resources and the diversity of marine biodiversity around the area in addition to making the marine parks as a special protection area for aquatic flora and fauna,” he told reporters after launching the operation to plant nine artificial reefs in the waters of Pulau Nangka here today.

Also present were State Rural Development, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry chairman Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman and Fisheries director-general Mohd Sufian Sulaiman.

Ahmad said the three Melaka Marine Parks also have the potential to become new tourism products for the state since they have more than 150 species of coral reefs and marine life.

He said the federal government has allocated more than RM1 million to implement various infrastructure and ecosystem protection projects to develop the parks such as installing buoys in Pulau Undan and building a floating jetty in Pulau Nangka.

He said apart from that, a total of 66 conservation artificial reefs worth RM1.2 million have been deployed in the waters of Pulau Besar and Pulau Nangka since 2008.

"The artificial reefs were anchored to the seabed to increase the density of local fishing resources because, within a certain period, the reefs will transform into a suitable habitat for the protection and reproduction of various types of marine flora and fauna,” he said.

A total of 23 coral propagation racks had been anchored in Pulau Undan and the Fisheries Department had released coral reef fish such as Red Ocellaris, Sergeant Major, Six Bar Angelfish, Maroon clownfish and Tomato clownfish to increase the stock of marine fish in Melaka waters, he added. — Bernama