1,537 Trawlers Still Operating In Zone B, Dewan Rakyat Told

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,537 trawlers are still operating in Zone B as of now, with the number to be gradually reduced before a full ban is enforced in 2030, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari, who represented the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, said the Zone B Trawl Net Elimination Policy is still being implemented by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia as announced in 2021.

“The implementation of this policy faces several key challenges including the high economic dependency of trawl net fishermen on the activity as their main source of income, where 100 per cent of the vessels are operated individually or by families.

“In addition, the restructuring process involves high modification costs estimated at over RM250,000 for each vessel should they move from Zone B to operations in Zone C,” he said in response to a question from Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PN-Sik), who asked about the main obstacles delaying the policy’s full realisation during a Special Chamber session in the Lower House.

Despite the challenges, he said the policy continues through several gradual control measures including the minimum mesh size requirement of 38 millimetres to reduce the catch of juvenile fish, as well as mandatory installation of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Mobile Transceiver Unit (MTU) for real-time vessel monitoring.

“Other measures include rezoning fishing areas on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia to reduce operational overlap between Zone A and Zone B, as well as suspension of licences and fuel subsidies for vessels detected encroaching within five nautical miles from the shore,” he said.

Adly said that as of 2024, a total of 386 vessels have been removed from the Zone B trawler category through licence cancellation, changes in operational zones and conversion of equipment to comply with the policy to reduce pressure on coastal fishery resources.

He also informed that from 2021 to June 2025, a total of 67 official complaints of encroachment into designated Fishing Zones by trawlers have been received and addressed.

“Through integrated operations with enforcement agencies such as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Maritim Malaysia) and the Marine Police, a total of 423 cases of trawler encroachment nationwide were recorded between 2021 and 2024,” he said.

The policy sets a target to reduce the number of Zone B trawlers from 4,800 to 1,950 by 2025, before the full ban on trawler operations in the zone is enforced in 2030.

-- BERNAMA