Food consumption and expenditures in Singapore: implications to Malaysia’s agricultural exports

Imports are the only source of food supply to Singapore. Such condition offers a very attractive proposition for agricultural oriented countries. The dependence on type of food imports is determined by consumer demand. This study intends to do an exploratory study on the current conditions of Singaporean food consumption and expenditures with implications on Malaysia as an important agricultural exporting country to Singapore. It is identified that Singaporean consumers tend to demand for high quality poultry, pork, seafood, vegetables, and fruits in future, particularly in response to income growth. At the mean time, Malaysia is seemingly rich in the production of these food commodities and commits to exports for the excess of the supplies. While facing competition from various countries, Malaysia still possesses various competitive advantages over the other countries

Towards fishery co-management for Kota Marudu, Sabah

This study is based on the project titled “Co-management Arrangements for Kota Marudu”, funded by Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia. The general objective of this study was to design policy, institutions and projects for sustainable natural resource management in Kota Marudu, Sabah. The three specific objectives were; (i) to identify and determine the status of stakeholders in the Kota Marudu area with respect to poverty and gender issues; (ii) to identify opportunities for poverty reduction, income generation and alternative livelihood without compromising the ecological integrity of coastal resources with respect to fisheries management, and; (iii) to evaluate and improve the management of coastal resources with respect to sustainability issues.A Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) and a Key Informant Survey (KIS) were conducted in preparation for the Household Survey (HHS). From the LFA analysis conducted in February 2009, the fishing industry in the area was not developed and sustainably managed. The return to fishing was very low and there were a number of contributing factors such as; non-sustainable fishing practices such as “bomb” and “cyanide” fishing, declining fish stock, unskilled human resource, undeveloped institutional capacities, and lack of government support, basic infrastructures and legislative enforcement. The KIS survey (conducted in May 2009) involved 14 representatives of the fishing community (comprising of village heads, members of development and security committee and Ketua Anak Negeri and eight respondents from the agencies (public and NGO). The village heads and community representatives in the KIS study highlighted the socio-economic conditions of the fishing community. It was mentioned that most of the problems centred around the lack of basic social infrastructure and facilities giving rise to problem such as frequent occurrence of floods (due to lack of flood control measures such as desilt and widening of waterways). With respect to fishing, use of illegal method such as dynamite fishing and encroachment by fishers from outside the area were the most reported. The high incidence of poverty and the presence of illegal immigrants were also reported by the village representatives.The HHS was carried out at 13 villages involving 170 respondents who were mainly fishers. This was conducted in June 2009. The survey on the households provided the socio-economic profile of the fishing community in the area. Besides having high percentage of poverty in the area, the community also lacked education opportunities and basic amenities. The respondents in general agreed that the fisheries resource management in Kota Marudu is in need of a revamp so that wastage and damage are minimised and enough fish will be available for future generations. For a successful co-management plan, it is recommended that two committees be set up to initiate the plan and idetify the activities to be carried out. The recommended two committees are the Coordination and Monitoring Committee and Fisheries Resource Management Committee. This is similar to the administrative set-up at the Langkawi co-management plan. Several activities are also suggested based on the findings and observations of the study. The activities include aquaculture and agriculture production, marketing and processing, input supply and services, tourism and hospitality. The success of the plan however is a function of multitude of factors. Since the fishing industry in Kota Marudu is small scale and subsistence-based and basic infrastructure is clearly lacking, the plan requires involvement from all parties, such as the local community, institutions, and external assistance agencies

A System Dynamics Approach for Improved Management of the Indian Mackerel Fishery in Peninsular Malaysia

This paper presents the results of applying the system dynamics model to the Indian mackerel fishery (IM) in Malaysia. The main objective of this paper is to explore a more holistic approach to modelling options for the difficult task of managing an open access fishery. To this end, a system dynamics model was used to provide a general framework that incorporates several interacting factors that influence the management of the fishery. Such a model, which combines both biological and economic data, is appropriate for fisheries management practise. In this case, three policy scenarios (in addition to a business-as-usual scenario) based on a reduction in the number of boats fishing are used to simulate the behaviour of the stock IM. The results show that the optimal CPUE level is achieved with a 25% reduction in the total number of boats. In this scenario, a biomass of 127,432 metric tonnes IM of adult fish is predicted in 2050, with a catch of 32,884 tonnes for 2698 boats. In comparison, the biomass of IM in 2016 is 112,384 tonnes with a catch of 32,454 tonnes for 4616 boats. Based on these results, we can determine for the first time the optimal level of fishing capacity to ensure the sustainability of the fishery at IM. Overall, this work introduces a new method for simulating Malaysian fisheries data and new modelling methods that are not widely used in the Malaysian fisheries modelling field. The model benefits from current management and data availability

A System Dynamics Approach for Improved Management of the Indian Mackerel Fishery in Peninsular Malaysia

This paper presents the results of applying the system dynamics model to the Indian mackerel fishery (IM) in Malaysia. The main objective of this paper is to explore a more holistic approach to modelling options for the difficult task of managing an open access fishery. To this end, a system dynamics model was used to provide a general framework that incorporates several interacting factors that influence the management of the fishery. Such a model, which combines both biological and economic data, is appropriate for fisheries management practise. In this case, three policy scenarios (in addition to a business-as-usual scenario) based on a reduction in the number of boats fishing are used to simulate the behaviour of the stock IM. The results show that the optimal CPUE level is achieved with a 25% reduction in the total number of boats. In this scenario, a biomass of 127,432 metric tonnes IM of adult fish is predicted in 2050, with a catch of 32,884 tonnes for 2698 boats. In comparison, the biomass of IM in 2016 is 112,384 tonnes with a catch of 32,454 tonnes for 4616 boats. Based on these results, we can determine for the first time the optimal level of fishing capacity to ensure the sustainability of the fishery at IM. Overall, this work introduces a new method for simulating Malaysian fisheries data and new modelling methods that are not widely used in the Malaysian fisheries modelling field. The model benefits from current management and data availability

Barriers to participating in the collection of traceable catch landing data for sharks and rays: focus group discussions (FGD) of small-scale fishers in Pahang, Malaysia

The objective of this study is to identify barriers in participating in the collection of traceable catch landing data for shark and ray species among small-scale fishers in Pahang, Malaysia. As one of the major shark catchers in the world, Malaysia has been recommended to implement a traceability system to manage its supply chain process, starting from catch landings, to ensure sustainable fishing of sharks and rays. The participation of of small-scale fishers in this effort is crucial due to the significant impact of shark and ray population to their livelihood, even though they have limited capability to record catch data due to lack of resources and education. A purposive snowball sampling was used to identify participants for focus group discussions (FGD). A semi-structured open-ended proforma was used as a discussion guide. The findings suggest that there are five barriers to participation, namely (i) shark and ray resources; (ii) governance and management support; (iii) infrastructure and management information system; (iv) fishers’ commitment and buy-ins; and, (v) collaboration effort among stakeholders. It is important for policymakers to consider mandatory registration of shark and ray fishers, besides encouraging them to report their catch up to species level with incentives and training programs, as well as information technology improvements, to overcome the barriers. Future studies might expand into quantitative analysis and include other players in the shark and ray supply chain

Factors Influencing the effectiveness of supply chain traceability system implementation for shark and ray products in Pahang, Malaysia: insights from key informant interviews

The objective of this study is to obtain experts’ opinions in identifying factors influencing the implementation of supply chain traceability for shark and ray products in Pahang, Malaysia. The information was obtained through structured key informant interviews (KIIs), which were conducted one-to-one and face-to-face with relevant experts from government agencies and Malaysia’s National Plan of Action (NPOA-Shark) committee members. From the text discourse analysis, the study has identified seven indicators that need to be improved and explored before developing the full implementation of the supply chain traceability system in Pahang. The indicators are as follows: (i) policy and strategic management; (ii) acts and regulations; (iii) shark and ray resources; (iv) manpower and capability; (v) infrastructure and management information system; (vi) collaboration efforts; and (vii) buy-ins from stakeholders. It is recommended that the government reviews the current policy, acts, regulations, and strategic initiatives to increase the commitment from all relevant stakeholders to ensure sustainable utilisation of shark and ray species

Evaluation of artificial reefs in West Coast, Malaysia

The use of artificial reefs in Malaysia is relatively new and if properly constructed, artificial reefs (ARs) can enhance fish habitat and easier access to quality fishing grounds and improved quality of catch will benefit fishermen and coastal communities. The first ARs were built in year 1975 by Department of Fisheries Malaysia and now there are more than 250 ARs were built in Malaysia. This paper examines the economic return of artificial reefs on the fishermen and the industry in West Coast (states of Kedah, Perak and Melaka) of Peninsular Malaysia, which are to assess the influence of these ARs on the fisheries and the impact of income changes on the socioeconomics conditions of fisher-folk fishing at ARs. In the middle of 2007 and early 2008, a survey has been carried out to evaluate artificial reefs in the states within a period of 10 months (from April 2007 until January 2008) and with a sample size of 7 boats in Kedah, 20 boats in Perak and 7 boats in Melaka. To analyze the collected data, the descriptive analyses which have been applied are catch analysis, operation cost, profitability operation analysis and cost-benefit analysis have been done to describe the information of the quantity of catch, value of catch, cost of catch, profit and the income of the fishers. From the results, Perak has the highest fish landing which is 30,819.35 kg, followed by Melaka (11,252.23 kg) and Kedah (11,190.50 kg). The average incomes of the three states are between MYR100-MYR400 per month and the state that gained highest income is Kedah which is MYR405.79. The percentage of operation cost is referring to the difference between profit and the income of the fishermen. The overall findings suggest that the deployment of ARs is one of an effective way in helping the fishers’ income and their profitability