Considered the Potency, SG Expects Iran or Indonesia Establish D-8 Working Group on Fisheries

Istanbul, Turkey | September 11, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Fish products ban by EU results in RM600 million (approx. 200 million USD) loss by Malaysia

The fishing industry suffered losses of almost RM600 million after the European Union (EU) restricted import of Malaysian seafood products to member countries early this year, said Fisheries Department deputy director-general Suhaili Lee here today.

Speaking to reporters Suhaili said the restriction was due to seafood industries in the country failing to meet the standards set by the agriculture audit authorities of the EU.

"Based on the findings of the EU audit team to Malaysia since 2005 and the latest in April this year, it was found that seafood producers failed to maintain quality and safety of their products like using contaminated ice, dirty ice factories and not meeting Good Manufacture Practices (GMP) standards and using dirty landing jetties," he said.

Earlier Suhaili had officiated the Sematan marine-life information centre and launched the green earth programme organised by the Sarawak Oceanic Department at Sematan about 100kn from here.

He said the Cabinet had recently approved the establishment of the Seafood Safety Bureau that had a technical committee and a financial committee to overcome the EU restrictions.

He said the role of the two committees were to ensure local seafood industries met EU standards as well as to source new markets in the Middle East and China.

Suhaili said that now many local seafood products were adversely affected and this caused producers and exporters to bear high losses.

He said his department in cooperation with the Health Department will study the problem in-depth to ensure the nation's seafood industry could progress and achieve international standards.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on the monthly RM200 cost of living allowance for fishermen beginning Sept 10, Suhaili said the mechanism for it had been fine-tuned to ensure that only fishermen who qualified would get the incentive.

He said to speed up the payment process the Fisheries Department would leave it to the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board, fishermen associations and Agrobank to ensure that fishermen, including those in far-flung areas, got their money on time.

Nigerian Fishing Industry faces imminent collapse

Other news on this line came from the other member state, Nigeria, whose fishing industry - a non oil sector that earns Nigeria over 65 million U.S Dollars in export annually faces imminent collapse if urgent measures are not taken to mitigate the cost of diesel used by commercial fish farmers.

Investigations carried out by The Abuja Inquirer reveal that commercial fish farmers are giving up the trade because they are unable to keep with the effects of the ever-increasing cost of diesel used for fueling their trawlers.

Consequently, out of the 170 trawlers used by the fish farmers who are mostly concentrated in the Lagos area, only 40 are at sea while the rest have been grounded at Kiri-Kiri jetty due to the problems associated with the high cost of running the business.

The result, according to an authoritative source is that many more Nigerians are likely going to have to feed without the benefit of fish which is globally considered one of the cheapest sources of protein.

The Association of Fish Trawlers Owners recently gave a desperate call to President Umaru Yar'Adua to intervene in the crisis by giving members of the association a concession to buy diesel directly from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation so as to reduce the overhead cost of running their business.

The Association also pointed out that there cannot be a better time for the Government to address the problem, particularly now that the nation is seeking ways of averting a major crisis in food prices.

It went on to state that such a measure is the only way fish can get to the table of the common man in who is already grappling with the escalating cost of food stuff in the market.

According to a statement signed by Princess Orakwusi, the first Vice-Chairman of the Fish Trawlers Association, it costs over 13 million naira to fuel trawlers for each trip.

The Abuja Inquirer gathered that the main issue at hand is the need for the Government to look into some of the Association's problems.

According to Orakwusi, "We are one of the largest consumers of diesel because of our operations. Diesel consumption constitute eighty percent of our operational costs because we do not use generators as stand by. We use diesel twenty four hours a day because we are out there in the field. You can liken our operations to that of a factory operating in the high sea for twenty four hours a daily, every week."

To maintain the cost of fish at the minimum cost possible and save the industry from total collapse, Orakwusi also she said wants President Yar' Adua to revisit an order given by ex-President Obasanjo that the NNPC grants Fish Producers the concession to buy diesel directly from them.

The Fishing magnate explained that even though ex- President Obasanjo gave the order before leaving office, NNPC appears constrained to put the order into effect due to changes in leadership and Management of the corporation.

Adducing reasons for the position, Orakwusi said it was unthinkable that an economic sector that fetches the Federal Government over 65 million U.S Dollars annually can be neglected in such a manner because the situation is threatening the very foundations of the industry.

FAO hails Iran for observing fishing regulations

Encouraging news came the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has commended the Islamic Republic of Iran for observing the global standards for fishing, calling Iran one of the developed countries in this regard, IRIB news agency reported Friday.

FAO Assistant Director-General of Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Ichiro Nomura stated that Iran plays a crucial role in aquaculture and should be regarded as a role model for regional countries.

Due to its big potentials, fisheries is among programs that will be touched by D-8 framework of cooperation, which included in Food Security Program. "We hope that Iran can lead the initiative to introduce the establishment of D-8 Working Group on Fisheries," said Dipo Alam, Secretary General of D-8. He said that Iran plays a leading role as an advanced country in in fishery sector, as globally recognized by FAO.

He also brought to mind the visit he made to the Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Freddy Numberi, last August. The meeting talked about the fisheries and maritime potency in D-8 countries. Minister Numberi supports the D-8 cooperation in this line, stating the fact that the group has a huge maritime and fertile potentials.

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