Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad said some fishermen had stopped going out to sea over the past month because the money spent on motor fuel was more than the income from their catches.

“The fishermen claimed that they managed to catch only two to three prawns and very little fish nowadays,” he was quoted as saying.

“Their livelihoods have been affected severely.”

He told Star Online he had accompanied the fishermen out to sea off Pulau Betong yesterday.

Muhammad Farid urged the National Hydraulic Research Institute, the Fisheries Department, and the Department of Environment to conduct immediate investigations into the quality of water.

Several fishermen had told him that on their return from sea they found the anchors of their boats covered with black silt, which gave off a foul stench.

There are about 1,000 coastal fishermen based in the Pulau Betong and Kuala Sungai Pinang areas on the west coast of the island.