Govt formulating strategic plan 2020-2030 to develop tuna industry
The plan contained 10 strategies and initiatives for the development and management of the country's tuna industry. - FILEpic/BERNAMA
The government is formulating the Tuna Industry Development Strategy 2020-2030 in the quest to grow the tuna industry into one of the country's new sources of wealth, said director-general of fisheries Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi.
He said the plan contained 10 strategies and initiatives for the development and management of the country's tuna industry.
As at 2019, he said 17 tuna fishing vessels and a carrier, which were licensed to operate in the Indian Ocean, recorded a total catch of 2,760.60 tonnes of tuna worth RM35 million.
He said the country's tuna are divided into two categories, namely oceanic tuna which are found in the international, Sabah and Labuan waters; and nectar tuna, which are small-sized species caught in the country's exclusive economic zone (ZEE).
The ports of Penang and Langkawi have been listed by the Department of Fisheries as tuna landing ports for vessels operating in the Indian Ocean, he told reporters after attending a promotion on tuna products for COVID-19 frontliners at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) here today.
The event was officiated by Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.
Ahmad said 5,000 tuna satay were distributed to the frontliners at the the low-risk Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centre at MAEPS in appreciation of their contribution in tackling the pandemic.
Ahmad said tuna satay was introduced by the Department of Fisheries during the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show (MAHA) 2016.
-- BERNAMA
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