KOTA KINABALU, Oct 8 — Although Sabah is famed for fresh and abundant seafood, the commercial fishing industry here has pointed out weaknesses in the federal-implemented diesel subsidy quota and distribution system for fishermen here.

Fishermen in Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu said that the state’s fishing industry has been allocated nine million litres for their quota which is barely sufficient, but a poor distribution system has compounded the situation to breaking point.

Sandakan Fishing (Tongkang) Association president Ng Chi Tsung has been trying to get authorities to rectify their problem claiming that some 426 fishing boats were affected since July by the poor management under the Area Fishing Association (PNK) who are tasked with the distribution.

The shortage has resulted in some of the trawlers have cut down fishing trips from three to four times a month, to just once a month now.

"In Sandakan, we have an allocated quota of 2.77 million litres, which is barely enough for the four jetties here, but now they have suddenly been giving it out at two more jetties with fuelling points, which are not legally operational jetties,” he said when contacted.

The fishermen have even resorted to a peaceful demonstration last Sunday (October 6) to make a point of their struggle with the subsidised diesel.

Kota Kinabalu Fishing Boats’ Owner Association president Simon Hong also said that some 160 to 180 boats shared 2.7 million litres of subsidised fuel across four jetties around Kota Kinabalu and Sepanggar which was also insufficient for the area.

"We are already facing a shortage but now they are also opening another jetty which makes the problem worse because now there is even less fuel to go around here,” said Hong.

He also said that PNK did not always honour the queue or first come, first serve system at the fuel station, which also has a quota, and had arbitrary practices as to who gets priority.

"Maybe some have an unwritten agreement or something we do not know, but it is incredibly unfair,” he said to Malay Mail.

The commercial fishing industry uses trawlers and purse siener vessels to support the marine produce downstream industry by supplying raw materials of smaller fish like kerisi, basung, lumahan or kayu for fish meal, fish paste and other produce for processing.

Fish meals support other food producers as feed for animals or fertilisers for plants as a protein-rich nutrient source.

The vessels go out to sea for up to 10 days at a time and send their frozen catch to processing factories mostly in West Malaysia, some in China, Korea or Japan.

"To emphasise the importance of this quote, the subsidised fuel price of RM1.65 per litre makes up some 60 per cent of our operational cost on average. We may not break even on a single trip and it takes about 10,000 litres per trip. The market value for our catch is also the lowest in the country.

"Without the subsidy, we cannot afford to go out to fish. Unsubsidised diesel costs RM4 per litre, while the market rate is RM2.15 but fishermen are not supposed to buy this,” he said.

"The costs have gone up — work permits, wages, fuel and SST have all been hard for us, the industry is suffering,” he lamented.

Ng and his association had met with Sandakan MP Vivien Wong and resorted to the protest to raise awareness of PNK’s actions which he said had elements of misappropriation.

"We want the MACC to look into this. We know there is something bad going on and we are asking them to please investigate,” said Ng. MACC is the acronym for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong said that the problems with the distribution system had cropped up numerous times since he was elected in 2018 without a resolution.

"There needs to be a review of the system. Talk to the people involved and maybe give the authority back to the state. When the responsibility was under Safma before, this was not a problem,” he said.

Safma is Sabah Fish Marketing Sdn Bhd, the government linked company who had authority over the industry from catching, processing to marketing and infrastructure. KoNelayan was also in charge of the jetties at one point.

"Having the PKN, which is under the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) is just too far removed from the ground. They cannot handle the problems from the ground, especially in Sandakan,” he said.