Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impacts on Malaysian Fisheries Sectors: Lesson Learned from the Movement Control Order (MCO)

Highlight Research • The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in the price of marine resources and the income of coastal communities has been affected. • The government and the authorities need to come out with several incentives to control this condition and the request for fish markets can be met customarily without rising prices and declining marine resources. • Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) a body that has a direct link to the fishing industry needs to ensure that all fishermen's associations participate in the purchase and marketing of fishermen's catch. • Adaptation of fish producers will pave the way for all coastal communities to develop more organized fishing systems and sufficient food sources   Abstract COVID-19 has a significant impact on the fishery industry, economy, and food supply. The government of Malaysia imposes a Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection. Although the MCO implementation has benefits in terms of public health, it has affected the fishery industry and the livelihood of coastal communities in Malaysia. This study aimed to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fishery industry and their livelihoods during that period of calamity. Qualitative research and thematic analysis were employed to seek deeper information on the real situation that retards the fishing activities to the opt stage. COVID-19 has already revealed gaps in health care, the economy, and food systems. The findings obtained can provide recommendations to the government to provide initiatives to fishermen to help them maintain and improve their livelihood. However, this study has limitations as the number of respondents is relatively small due to the restrictions of movement allowed by the government. Future studies could be further enhanced in terms of the impact of COVID-19 after movement restrictions have been loosened and could use a quantitative approach to obtain significant data

Understanding the working primate: An ethogram of jon, a Southern Pig-Tailed Macaque - Macaca Nemestrina

A study of Southern Pig Tailed Macaque in human community was conducted in Kijal, Malaysia. The study aimed to document how this species responds to commands of performing one of the riskiest and most break-necking tasks, plucking coconut. An ethogram of Macaca Nemestina was constructed by characterising and defining the behavioral patterns of this species dealing with the task given. A series of observations amounting to 28 visits with a total of 52 hours (3120 minutes) was made. There were four phases of observation conducted starting from 15 August 2019 to 3 December 2019 between 0800 and 1700 hours. It was found that the monkey is a smart animal that managed to duly perform its duty based on few rudiment utterances of sound system/vocabulary and some other repetitious forms of non-verbal communication. The ethogram of the pig-tail macaque and its coconut plucking activity is presented here for the first time