In 1983 at the request of the Government of Malaysia, FAO formulated a project proposal entitled “Assistance to the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority or Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM)” for a period of one year under the FAO Technical Cooperative Programme. The objectives of the project (TCP/MAL/4403) were “to assist the management of LKIM in reviewing activities on fishermen community development programme and to make necessary proposals with a view to achieving more effectively the objectives of the Fishermen Development Areas (FDAs)1 particularly relating to the upgrading of the socio-economic status of the fishermen's community”.
Under these broad objectives it was originally designed that the TCP/MAL/4403 would assist LKIM in developing fishermen's associations in FDAs with the intention of promoting the social and economic interests of the members of fishermen's associations. However, when the Project became operational in November 1984, the Government requested FAO that the Project should focus its efforts on the problem of surplus fishermen and assist LKIM in formulating a long-term development strategy for fishermen's relocation programmes with a view to providing more gainful employment opportunities for under-employed fishermen. The equitable distribution of income was explicitly advocated as one of the major development goals in the National Agricultural Policy (NAP) which was formulated in 1984.
It was agreed between the Government and FAO that under the objectives set out in the original document, the TCP/MAL/4403 would concentrate its efforts on the development of fishermen's relocation programmes. The major activities of the Project consisted of:
to carry out an overall evaluation of the fishermen's resettlement scheme implemented by LKIM at Tanjung Dawai, the State of Kedah in order to determine and measure the constraints to the adoption of capital-intensive resettlement schemes;
On this basis, to provide principles and practical guidelines for the design and implementation of such projects;
To conduct indepth surveys in target villages in order to formulate effective fishermen's relocation programmes, to assess training requirements for potential settlers and assess the capacity and appropriateness of existing vocational training facilities. Such surveys would identify fishermen who wish to change their occupation and/or the place of residence as well as existing and potential sources of alternative employment opportunities for fishermen and their families.
In connection with item (a), the TCP/MAL/4403 produced a report entitled “A Review Study of the Sungai Merbok Floating Cage Culture Project” (TCP/MAL/4403 Technical Report 2) and “Tobacco Resettlement Project of Alor Ketitir” (TCP/MAL/4403 Technical Report 3). In addition, as a supplementary document to Technical Report 2, the Project prepared “A Case Study on Commercial Cage Of Finfish Culture in Penang” (TCP/MAL/4403 Technical Report 4). The present report (TCP/MAL/4403 Technical Report 1) has been prepared in connection with item (c) and should be treated as the main report of the TCP/MAL/4403.
