“One day, we may need the states in the peninsula and Sarawak to supply us with seafood and other exports. We should be able to export to Labuan, Sarawak and the peninsula.”
Arsani assured that except for seasonal fluctuations, the supply of seafood for the domestic market was more than enough and hence the tourism industry would not be affected. “Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Yahya Hussin didn’t have the full picture when he imposed the ban. Which seafood restaurant in Sabah has run out of supplies to merit the ban?”
“Yahya gave three reasons for the ban, lack of fresh seafood supply in Sabah, expensive seafood, and for the benefit of the tourism industry. He was just looking at the market in Kota Kinabalu which experiences seasonal shortages between November and February.”
The tourism market, he explained, doesn’t go for the “ikan rakyat” (people’s fish) that’s sold locally and exported to Sarawak and the peninsula. He reeled off a list including tenggiri (Spanish mackerel), basung (scad), ikan putih, stingray, kembung (Indian mackerel) and tuna.
The east coast, he added, has supplies of seafood throughout the year, sometimes more, sometimes less. “Environmental factors like the El Nino phenomenon or the rainy season could also affect the catch.”
“There are seasons when our catch reaches 100 tonnes a day and if the prices rise in the market, it because the catch is less for various reasons, even as low as 30 tonnes.”
He claimed that the fishing industry in Sabah only exported their surplus catch after meeting local market demand. “If prices are higher in the local market, it may be due to various factors including seasonal variations. Perak aside, the seafood in Sabah is the cheapest in the country.”
Apparently, Sabah only exports to other states in Malaysia because seafood doesn’t remain fresh for long. The flight between Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur, for example, takes two hours 20 minutes. Then it takes time to distribute the seafood to the buyers. Several hours would have passed by the time consumers get their supplies.
In short, said Arsani, the industry in Sabah was generally not thinking of exporting seafood to places outside Malaysia.