Many fishermen here lament their declining seafood sales as the middlemen and public refuse to buy their catch due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in two villages in the district.

One of them, Yaakob Bahari, 70, claimed that his fish sales dropped since a few days ago as the public was afraid to buy fish and other seafood from Kuala Sanglang fishermen in both Perlis and Kedah.

"We fishermen go out to sea, we catch the fish but the problem is there are no buyers, while customers from outside the state also do not come to buy.

"The unsold catch has to be processed into dried fish or given for free to the public to avoid from being wasted," said the fisherman who lives in Kuala Sungai Baru.

A fisherman at Kuala Sanglang Jetty in Kedah, Omar Teh, 58 said the price of ikan kembung (mackerel) had dropped to RM3 per kg from between RM6 and RM8 per kg before the enforcement of the Targeted Enhanced Movement Control Order (TEMCO) last Saturday.

"The TEMCO is implemented somewhere else... but we are affected too as customers no longer dare come to Kuala Sanglang on the Kedah side, which is located next to Perlis' Kuala Sanglang.

He said people were confused between Kuala Sanglang in Perlis and Kuala Sanglang in Kedah, causing their seafood sales to drop by about 80 per cent from the usual amount.

The Perlis government has implemented TEMCO for 28 days beginning last Saturday (Aug 8) in Kampung Kuala Sanglang and Kampung Tanah Timbul to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection.

Until yesterday, Perlis recorded 30 COVID-19 positive cases, including 11 recent cases from the PUI Sivagangga cluster which started in Napoh, Kubang Pasu in Kedah.

-- BERNAMA