STATUS OF FINFISH CULTURE IN MALAYSIA

Kamaruddin B. Othman *

I. Abstract

The Malaysia Government is committed towards developing aquaculture into a major industry by the turn of the century. In time with the National Agriculture Policy, a seven point strategy has been formulated to achieve this objective. Programmes to develop tiger prawn farming, seabass culture, mussel, cockle rearing and freshwater fish culture in ponds, mining pools and lakes have been drawn up. These programmes are anticipated to increase aquaculture production from 76,800 tonnes in 1984, to 206,070 tonnes in 2000. A total of $940 million is expected to be invested in the industry during this century.

The Government would be involved largely in a supportive role providing research (including site selection) extension and training, market promotion, and fiscal incentives, while the private sector is exported to an active part in production. the anticipated development this contingent on close cooperation between the public and private sectors.

II. Background

While Malaysia's aquaculture traditions are relatively recent compared to its neighbors in the Indo-Pacific Region, nonetheless the industry has made impressive gains in the few years to carve out a niche in the local fisheries sector.

Aquaculture was first introduced in the early 1900's when the culture of Chinese carps was undertaken in abandoned mining pools. Today, there are over 19 species of finfish, crustaceans and shellfish cultured in a variety of systems throughout the country.

III. Species of commercial importance

There are many commercially important species of aquatic organisms (molluscs, crustaceans, finfish) that are suitable for aquaculture development in Malaysia. Most of these species possess all the desirable biological attributes for culture, including rapid growth, hardiness, large size and short reproductive cycle.

For coastal aquaculture, the species include the giant sea perch or sea bass (Lates calcarifer), the estuarine grouper (Epinephelus tauvina), the snapper (Lutianus johni/argentimaculatus), and the red snappers (Lutianus malabricus).

* Fisheries Assistant, Fisheries Department of Kedah/Perlis, 5th Floor, Federal Building, Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia.

For freshwater culture the species include grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), Lampam (Puntius gonionotus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis), Sepat Siam (Trichogaster pectoralis), Tilapia nilotica, Labeo rohita, Patin (Pangasius sutchi) and Ketutu (Oxyeleotris marmoratus).

IV. Annual aquaculture production

Aquaculture thus already plays an important role in contributing to our protein food supply and will play an increasingly important role in the future as a source of protein food, both in the low-priced as well as in the high-priced categories. Cultured fish are especially important as a protein source in the inland areas where marine fish are not easily available or affordable.

Aquaculture also provided employment to the operators actually engaged in the culture as well as those involved in marketing the products.

With discussed production, the annual estimated number and acreage of ponds, disuse mining pools and cages and number of culturists by culture system, are used in Appendix A, whilst the production figures in various culture system from 1980 to 1986 are in Appendix B, C, D and E).

For better comparison between the various systems of culture and annual production for the years 1985 and 1986, the following aspects should be taken into account:

1. The landings and value of the aquaculture sub-sector in Peninsular Malaysia declined by 0.12% and 14.1% from 1985 to 1986 respectively. Data on aquaculture in Sarawak and Sabah are lacking.

2. The number of culturists in Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak were 13,028 and 1,126 respectively. The breakdown of culturists in the Peninsular according to culture system was as follows: Constructed and old mining ponds 12,290 (94.3%) and cages 528 (4.1%). In 1986 there were fewer culturists operating constructed old mining ponds and cages by 7.3% and 18.8% respectively. Most of the culturists were involved in freshwater culture.

3. In 1985 there were 15,388 freshwater ponds and 563 brackishwater ponds with a total area of 2,594 and 476 ha respectively. The number and area of freshwater ponds in 1986 was reduced by 11.7% and 12.4% respectively whilst that of brackishwater ponds increased by 17.0% and 4.6% respectively.

4. Out of a 9,336 cages in Peninsular Malaysia (total area 90,360 m), 8,740 units or 93.6% were for brackishwater culture, the rest freshwater cages. The number and area of freshwater cages declined in 1986 by 5.6% and 61.8% respectively. However, the number and area of brackishwater cages increased by 59.5% and 34.6% respectively. There was an increase in the number and area of old mining ponds, by 26.8% to 841 and by 4.8% to 1,296 ha respectively. See Table I.

5. In general, in 1986 the area under aquaculture declined by 287 ha. It was largely due to the number of freshwater ponds which ceased operation.

6. in 1986 the aquaculture production in Peninsular Malaysia was 51,643 tonnes (reduced by 0.1%) valued at $42.6 million (reduced by 14.1%). The tonnage and value of brackishwater production formed about 90.8% and 65.0% of the total, respectively.

7. In 1986 the contribution of freshwater production decreased by 25.8% whilst that of brackishwater aquaculture increased by 3.5%. The most significant increase was in cage culture, by 137%. In 1986 the production from freshwater pond culture decreased by 23.4%. See Table II.

8. The three most cultured species were grass carp (1516 tonnes) Javanese carp (969 tonnes) and Lates calcarifer (819 tonnes)

9. The species having high wholesale value were Lates calcarifer ($8.7 million) and grass carp ($4.9 million).

V. Site selection criteria

Based on the extent of existing undeveloped potential area, the prospects are bright for aquaculture development in Malaysia in all the three sectors of the aquatic environment; seawater, brackishwater and freshwater. For culture in seawater and brackishwater, there are many sheltered coastal areas and extensive mudflats and low-lying sites including mangrove swamps. Most are potentially suitable for aquaculture using various systems, such as on-bottom culture for cockle, net-cage or pen culture of coastal finfishes in the relatively sheltered coastal waters, raft culture of molluscs particularly mussels, and pond culture of coastal finfishes and crustaceans especially Penaeus monodon (Fig. 1).

Although there is no precise data on the total extent of all the potential culture sites existing in the coastal areas of the country, it is estimated that there are about 284,000 hectares of mangrove forests in Sabah (Anon., 1979a), 173,000 hectares in Sarawak (Anon., 1979b, Cheah, 1979) and 103,000 hectares in Peninsular Malaysia (Tang et al., 1980). These make up a total of about 560,000 hectares of mangrove forests along the coastal areas of Malaysia (Tables 3 and 4). Thus, mangrove forests amount to about 11% of the total forests area in the country. In the Peninsular, the bulk of mangrove is found along the west coast (Fig.2).

Allowing for the need to maintain mangrove reserves, and even if only 10% of the country's coastal swamps could be developed for pond culture during the coming decade, a production of 50,000 tonnes of marine prawns/fish could be achieved (Ong, 1985).

For freshwater pond culture, there are low-lying areas and inland swamps in the country which can be developed into fish ponds. Freshwater fish culture can be developed in the man-made lakes and old mining pools, in the form of net-cage or pen culture. Padi fields, irrigation supply canals and other suitable water bodies can be stocked with suitable fish fry, if problems like water pollution and destructive fishing are prevented.

It is likely that the proper utilization of all the suitable inland areas for freshwater fish culture could increase several fold total freshwater culture production which at present is estimated at just over 10,000 tonnes per year (Ong, 1985).

Table 1. Estimates of Number and Area of Ponds and Cages - 1985 and 1986 - Malaysia

Table 2. Quantity and wholesale value of Aquaculture production 1985 and 1986 - Peninsular Malaysia

Figure 1. Various types of culture sites in Malaysia.

Figure 2. Mangrove forests in Malaysia

To develop culture in seawater and brackishwater areas the factors that should be considered are soil quality (loam soil pH between 6.5–7.0), water supply, salinity (between 20–20 ppt), and pollution. The area must have power supply, potable water supply, road communication, and supply of skilled workers.

For seabass (Lates calcarifer) cage culture, a suitable site will provide good growth conditions. Coastal areas, bays, straits, lagoons and estuaries are among the suitable places for net cage culture. However factors like protection, water current, depth, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity and water pollution must be within a suitable range. For instance, the sites should be sheltered. Water current at 20–50 cm/sec is considered optimum for water quality management in terms of water exchange to maintain dissolved oxygen (not less than 4–5 ppm) and excretory product removal, as well as to minimise stress on the cultured fish.

Water depth will be determined by the depth of the net cage. For example, the net cage is 2–3 m deep, water depth should be at least 5 m during low water spring tide. Water salinity can vary depending upon the cultured fish. Seabass can tolerate water salinity from 0 to 30 ppt (Soesanto et al. 1985). Water salinity in coastal areas fluctuates due to the influence of fresh water from the rivers especially during the raining season. This can cause stratification which is not preferred by stenohaline fish. Therefore euryhaline fish should be chosen.

Table 3. Extent of mangrove forest in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak (in hectares).

VI. Rules and regulations

(State Government Policy on utilization of land for aquaculture)

Land development is one important aspect in the context of national development. Most of the development programmes particularly in agriculture, involves land basically. Land is under the state's jurisdiction, but the overall policy is made by the National Land Council. Land acquisition for aquaculture purpose can be procured through land alienation and temporary occupation license. To use agricultural lands for aquaculture purposes, the land owner has to get permission from the land office to change the stipulated condition. All the State Governments, except Johore, have yet to come out with specific policy on land utilization for aquaculture, but most of the states encourage the industry.

Table 4 : Extent and distribution of mangrove and other forests in Peninsular Malaysia in 1978

1. Source: Anon., (1980a)
2. Source: Anon., (1980b)
3. Excludes 6445 ha. proposed for excision

a. Land Administration Structure in Malaysia

In order to understand about land utilization policy for aquaculture in this country, it is very important to comprehend the land administration structure/system and it's legal aspects.

In terms of power, land is under the State Authority jurisdiction, except for Federal Territory. This power is provided under article 74 of the Malaysian Constitution.

The Federal Government has no power on land matters at the State level. However, policy matter, is decided by the National Land Council (NLC). The policies that will be decided cover encouragement and land use supervision only.

At the State level, there is a Director of Land and Mines which is responsible for land management. Land administration at district level is carried out by the District Land Administrator (formerly Collector of Land Revenue) and he is directly responsible to the State Secretary. The State Secretary is responsible for the planning, administration and financial aspect of land administration at the district level.

Normally, all matter dealing with land have to be channelled through the District Land Office for processing before forwarding them to the State Executive Committee for consideration via State Director of Lands and Mines.

b. Land Laws

The main land laws in Peninsular Malaysia are found in the National Land Code. There are several other laws/enactments/rules which are used in land administration.

There are several important provisions in the National Land Code that should be understood including some provisions which have been amended recently, in order to understand legal aspect of Malaysian Land administration. Some of the important aspects are as follows:

Who can apply for land

Section 43 of the National Land Code lists persons or bodies who can apply for alienation of land. These are:

1. Natural persons who have attained the age of majority (in accordance with age of Majority Act 1971) - Section 43(9) N.L.C.

2. Corporation having power under their constitutions to hold land Section 43(b) N.L.C.

3. Sovereigns, Government, organizations and other persons and consular Privileges Ordinance 1957 - Section 43(c) N.L.C. authorised to hold land under the provision of the Diplomatic privileges.

4. Societies registered under the Societies Act, 1966.

c. Land Disposal Procedure

There are several ways that lands can be disposed. If it is for agriculture purpose, especially related to aquaculture, two ways of land disposal can be made by the State Authority:

1. Land Alienation - The land is alienated by giving a lease not exceeding 99 years.

2. Temporary occupation License - This is issued particularly for temporary or short-term use without involving permanent building construction or permanent crops. The license is issued for a duration of one year only and can be renewed annually.

d. Development on Alienated Land

There are provisions in the N.L.C. to develop alienated lands so that it will not contradict with its implied conditions. For instance, if a landowner had a piece of padi-field land and plans to develop it as fish pond, the question arises as to whether it is necessary for the land owner to amend the implied conditions of the land from padi-field to fish pond. Normally if a piece of land is planted with rubber trees and the landowner would like to plant it with palm oil trees or fruit trees, he has to get permission from land office to change the implied conditions. Therefore, it is similar to the case when land is going to be developed for aquaculture as its main use. The application conditions and rules can be referred to the State Land Rules of the State concerned. If aquaculture industry becomes similar to manufacturing activity, it is necessary for the landowner to apply for land conversion from agricultural to industrial purpose. Since this industry is so far considered as an agriculture activity, no land conversion is needed.

Johor's land utilization policy for aquaculture can be seen from the conditions imposed upon the approval of land alienation application. There are two ways of land disposal made for aquaculture purpose, they are by leasing and temporary occupation license.

In fact, the policy practised in Johore State is a normal land alienation process which is practised by other state authorities. In terms of approval condition, such as duration of lease, condition on New Economic Policy, environmental control etc, depend on the State Authority's Policy. Therefore, it is more appropriate to call the policy adopted by the Johore State as Land Alienation Policy for Aquaculture.

e. Availability of Land for Aquaculture

Aquaculture industry can be carried out in suitable alienated lands. These lands can be found in several areas. First is from inland area comprising of former mining and reserve lands. In Perak, Selangor and Pahang there are a lot of ex-mining lands which are suitable for aquaculture. The amount of ex-mining lands available in these countries can be seen from Table 5. Reserve lands such as forest reserves, can be revoked to become state land and can be used for aquaculture. However, it depends on the State Authorities whether they have policy to do so. The second source of land is from swampy land along the beach and offshore land within 3 miles from the beach. These lands can be applied for temporary occupation license and the application can be made through the land office.

Aquaculture development on the alienated lands have great potential. At present, a remarkable amount of idle lands exists in this country and some of them are suitable for aquaculture. There are 882,200 hectares of idle land in Malaysia (728,440 hectares of non-padi field and 161,482 hectares of padi field) which are ready to be developed. The landowners or lessees may develop these lands for aquaculture. In essence, it is hoped that aquaculture industry will continue to expand in this country in line with other developments and it will become a very important source of food and external income.

Table 5. Total area of Ex-mining land (state land) throughout Peninsular Malaysia bill October, 1985.

Source : State Mine Departments

VII. Harvesting and handling methods

Harvesting

In harvesting of cultured fish, several methods have been developed. The following briefly describe the main methods:

1. Harvesting from ponds filled with water. Normally a net is used and dragged from one end of the pond to the other. The operation is simple: the upper-portion of the net is held up by hands while the lower part is being held down by the feet and, moving slowly, the net is pushed and dragged across the whole area of the pond till the far end.

2. Harvesting by drying the ponds. There are two ways in which this method is used. One is by using powered water pump to suck dry the pond and collect the fish from the bottom of the ponds. The other method is to drain dry the pond through the sluice gates. The entrance of these gates are fitted with conical-shape nets which, trap the fish.

3. Harvesting from net cages. The method is simple and involves just a scoop of reasonable size. The operation involves scooping up the fish from the net cage through the cover.

Handling

At present, there is no standardized method for transporting live fish. The farmers use whatever methods of their liking to transport the fish and there is no attempt to minimize mortality rate and financial losses. Three common features are noted in handling of fish by the farmers.

1. After harvesting, the fish are kept in cement tanks for some time, for various reasons, before they are disposed. Aeration is seldom used.

2. Better quality fish like seabass, grouper and red snapper are transported directly to restaurants. The fish are shipped in fibre glass tanks fully equipped with good aeration.

3. The most common way of transporting lower grade fish is the use of thick plastic bags filled with oxygen.

VIII. Marketing strategies and problems

Among the significant Government inputs to achieve the aquaculture development targets in Malaysia are programmes on (i) research, (ii) extension, (iii) training, (iv) resource management, (v) marketing services and (vi) fiscal incentives.

Another supporting service of significant importance is marketing. The Government is looking closely into broadening the existing market base for aquaculture product to make the industry less susceptible to price and supply fluctuations.

Foremost among the Government's efforts is an active market promotion programme to widen consumer awareness and acceptance of aquaculture products. These would involve the use of the mass media.

Other forms of promotion, such as cooking demonstrations and competitions and discount sales of aquaculture commodities will be undertaken.

The processing of raw aquaculture products into forms more acceptable to the consumer, such as canning, fish balls, keropok (fish cracker) and snack food, will also be looked into.

The Government will also explore export market for aquaculture products.

There is still the problems associated with low consumer demand for some aquaculture species, especially freshwater fish like silver carp (Hypohthalmichthys molitrix) and the common Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), both of which can be easily cultured but are not given any priority. The other problem is the perceived greater risks in producing aquatic organisms compared, for instance, to land farming.

The market value of several aquaculture species is also very high especially when the product is sold live, as for example, Lates calcarifer. Marketing prospects for selected finfishes are not only bright in the local market but also in foreign markets provided adequate quality control is maintained. Population growth and the fact that aquaculture products are generally acceptable to all people ensures a growing demand for these products. The major issues are as follows:

References

Y.M. Tengku Dato Ubaidillah b. Abdul Kadir : Kertas Pengembangan Perikanan Bil. 131 - Aquaculture Development Strategies and Programmes.

Ong Kah Sin : Kertas Pengembangan Perikanan bil. 99 - Aquaculture Prospects and Problems.

Mohd. Kushariri b. Mohd. Rajuddin - Kertas Pengembagah Perikanan bil. 85-Should Mangrove Be cleared to Give Way to Coastal Aquaculture or Conserved a Review.

Ong Kah Sin - Risalah Perikanan bil. 18 - Aquaculture Development in Malaysia in the 80''s.

Fisheries Department - Report on Aquaculture Conference 9–12 December, 1985.

Hussin b. Mat Ali - Paper Seabass (Lates calcarifer) Cage Culture Research in Malaysia.

Annual Fisheries Statistics from 1980 to 1986.

Appendix (a)

ANNUALLY ESTIMATED NUMBER AND ACREAGE OF PONDS, DISUSED MINING PONDS, AND CAGES AND NUMBER OF CULTURISTS BY CULTURE SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA

Appendix (b)

ANNUALLY ESTIMATED FISH PRODUCTION FROM FRESHWATER PONDS AND EXMINING POOLS AND SPECIES IN MALAYSIA (WEIGTS IN TONNES)

Appendix (c)

ANNUALLY ESTIMATED FISH PRODUCTION FROM FRESHWATER CAGES AND SPECIES IN MALAYSIA (WEIGHTS IN TONNES)

Appendix (d)

ANNUALLY ESTIMATED FISH PRODUCTION FROM BRACKISHWATER PONDS SPECIES IN MALAYSIA (WEIGHTS IN TONNES)

Appendix (e)

ANNUALLY ESTIMATED FISH PRODUCTION FROM BRACKISHWATER MARINE CAGES AND SPECIES IN MALAYSIA (WEIGHTS IN TONNES)