Agriculture and food industries minister Ronald Kiandee said that in 2020, RM40 million worth of tuna weighing 3,005 tonnes were caught by Malaysian-flagged vessels, but a large chunk of their catch was offloaded in Mauritius.
He said of that amount caught last year, Penang received only 1,944 tonnes of tuna worth RM28 million from Malaysian vessels.
The state is seen as a strategic port for tuna landing due to its location, better export facilities and high demand for saltwater fish.
Ronald said Malaysia’s smaller share of the tuna catch was due to the lack of supporting industries typically found in entrepôts, where there were better downstream services to warehouse, re-export of catch and other related logistics to the industry.
“The facilities in Penang and Langkawi are not as competitive as other players in our neighbouring countries, hence we lose most of the catch to other countries.
“We want to modernise the tuna industry big time, replete with downstream support, making Malaysia a competitive country like our neighbours,” he said.
As of 2016, Indonesia recorded the highest tuna production, with a global share of 17.9% while the Philippines came second with 6.1% according to the Asean Post. Thailand is the world’s biggest exporter of prepared or preserved tuna comprising 29% of the world’s exports, it reported.
Ronald said overall, the country received 97,613 tonnes of tuna from different flagged vessels worth about RM904 million in the whole of 2020.
He said Malaysia, as a member of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission since 1998, is allocated 200 licences to catch tuna in the Indian Ocean. He said of that number, only 10% has been taken up.
He said as of last year, there were 19 Malaysian-flagged tuna vessels. The government plans to boost the numbers to 70 vessels by 2030, so as to meet an annual catch target of 30,000 tonnes.
Ronald said that while the number of licensed vessels is expected to grow, the concern remains the downstream industries that Malaysian tuna landing ports provide. He said a private company has proposed to develop an integrated facility providing such services at the Batu Maung tuna land jetty.
“When we have downstream services, we can attract other foreign-flagged tuna vessels to offload their catch here,” he said.
Earlier, Ronald launched a new Malaysian-flagged tuna vessel “Ibu Wira 1” at the Batu Maung Fisheries Industry Development Board (LKIM) jetty today.