Fisheries expansion goes onshore in Brunei Darussalam

Onshore developments, including aquaculture and processing facilities, could help Brunei Darussalam unlock the potential of its burgeoning fisheries industry.

The Sultanate is keen to overcome supply gaps and boost the sector’s contribution to GDP, particularly in the value-added segment, as part of a national drive to diversify the economy away from oil and gas.

Maritime legacy

A one-time maritime hub, Brunei Darussalam’s natural resources – which include 161 km of coastline and an extensive, 36,600-sq-km exclusive economic zone – should support the country’s efforts to expand fisheries revenues.

The sector’s current share of economic output remains low, at just short of 1% of GDP when combined with both forestry and agriculture as of the second quarter of 2015, according to the Department of Statistics. However, the fisheries segment in particular has recorded substantial growth over the last year, expanding by 29.8% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2015.

While the government sees fisheries and aquaculture as potential providers of jobs and private sector investment, it also recognises the need to address the current supply gap.

Local demand remains especially high in the Sultanate, which has one of the highest rates of per capita seafood consumption in South-east Asia, at 47 kg per annum in 2013.

Supply & sustainability

Brunei Darussalam has imposed limits in recent years to preserve local fish stocks and protect delicate coral reefs, which are major breeding grounds for fish. Promoting more sustainable fishing practices also ranks high on the Sultanate’s fisheries agenda.

The country recently renewed a moratorium on new fishing licences, originally implemented in 2008, while also extending the coastal Zone 1 fishing area, where some trawling is banned, from three nautical miles offshore to seven.

While such measures are expected to help restore depleted fish stocks, they have driven down local supply in the interim. Fish processing businesses report having to import catches from outside of Brunei Darussalam in order to maintain their operations – largely from Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) – and are still running below capacity.

Richard Chuang, managing director of integrated seafood producer Golden Corporation, highlighted the impact that raw material shortages were having on operations. “It is the most important issue that we are facing at the moment,” he told local media in October, citing production levels of around 20-30% of operational capacity.

While the value of fish and seafood imports has eased slightly in recent years, according to data from the Department of Fisheries, falling from BN$10.3m ($7.3m) in 2009 to BN$5.9m ($4.2m) in 2012, the country continues to rely on imports for roughly half of local consumption.

Supply shortages have also driven up the price of fish. As of the first quarter of 2015, red snapper was trading at around BN$5.70-7.60 ($4-5.40) per kg in Malaysia, compared to BN$18 ($12.75) per kg in Brunei, according to local media reports.

Farming for the future

Efforts to boost supply have largely centred on onshore production, with a focus on developing fish and seafood farms.

The outlook for the aquaculture segment looks promising, with its contribution to the national economy expected to reach BN$200m ($141.4m) by 2023, according to the Department of Fisheries, equivalent to around half of the overall industry.

Boosting aquaculture output would also allow the country to expand its seafood processing and export businesses, which currently account for a relatively small share of the sector’s total value.

Golden Corporation, which breeds and processes organic blue prawns, has acquired 200 ha of new land for aquaculture in a bid to triple production to 3000 tonnes per annum by 2017. The company currently exports roughly 60 tonnes of shrimp per month to China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

Brunei Darussalam has also taken steps to make better use of bycatch. A long-running lack of local demand for certain types of fish has led to high discard rates. Before the country developed a domestic value-added processing industry, reports suggested that as much as 90% of each catch was discarded.

In recent years, efforts in have focused on identifying applications for less marketable fish. Processing plants that turn low-quality catches into commercially viable products, such as surimi and fish oil and pastes, have proven to be successful growth avenues for the industry.


Sumber - Oxford Business Group

Brunei-M’sia ulangi komitmen

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 11 Ogos – Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam berkenan mengadakan perjumpaan empat mata bersama Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Dato Laila Utama Datuk Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak yang berlangsung di Cheradi Ratna Kenchana, Istana Nurul Iman.

Semasa majlis perjumpaan tersebut, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia dan Perdana Menteri Malaysia telah berbincang mengenai isu-isu dua hala di antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia, serta bertukar-tukar pendapat tentang hal ehwal serantau dan antarabangsa yang mempunyai kepentingan bersama.

Dato Laila Utama Datuk Seri Mohd Najib berada di negara ini bagi Rundingan Pemimpin-pemimpin Tahunan ke-19 di antara Brunei Darussalam dan Malaysia.

Dalam kenyataan bersama yang dikeluarkan selepas rundingan tersebut kedua-dua pemimpin mengulangi komitmen untuk meningkatkan kerjasama dalam bidang kepentingan bersama demi manfaat kedua-dua negara serta menzahirkan rasa gembira mereka dengan perkembangan menggalakkan di bawah pelaksanaan Pertukaran Surat ditandatangani oleh pemimpin kedua-dua negara pada 16 Mac 2009.

Sementara itu, Dato Laila Utama Datuk Seri Mohd Najib dalam sidang akhbar pada akhir lawatan beliau ke Brunei di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Brunei di sini hari ini berkata, operasi di pintu masuk di sempadan Malaysia dan Brunei yang kini dibuka dari 6 pagi hingga 10 malam akan dilanjutkan sehingga 12 malam.

Katanya, perkara itu telah mendapat perkenan Baginda Sultan semasa perjumpaan di sini hari ini.

“Dari segi (waktu operasi) pintu masuk sekarang, terdapat kesukaran dalam kalangan orang ramai, sama ada dari Brunei ke Malaysia atau Malaysia ke Brunei. Tempoh pembukaan di pintu masuk hanya sehingga 10 malam supaya perhubungan antara kedua-dua negara berjalan dengan lebih lancar lagi,” katanya.

Beliau bagaimanapun tidak menyatakan bila tarikh pelanjutan waktu operasi di pintu masuk sempadan itu akan mula dikuatkuasakan.

Katanya, kajian juga akan dilakukan untuk melicinkan perjalanan antara Brunei dengan Sabah dan Sarawak berikutan pasport perlu dicap banyak kali kerana terdapat banyak pintu masuk di sempadan kedua-dua buah negara.

Mengulas lanjut berkenaan perjumpaan dengan Baginda Sultan, Dato Laila Utama Datuk Seri Mohd Najib, berkata Baginda Sultan juga telah bersetuju untuk mengurniakan empat helikopter Black Hawk terpakai kepada Kementerian Pertahanan Malaysia.

“Perkara ini akan disusuli nanti oleh Datuk Seri Hishammuddin selaku Menteri Pertahanan. Kerjasama bidang pertahanan (Malaysia-Brunei) berada pada tahap yang baik,” katanya.

Perdana Menteri berkata dalam soal pertahanan juga, Malaysia telah mewujudkan ‘sea based platform’ di perairan Sabah dan pihak Brunei terutama angkatan tenteranya boleh mewujudkan platform yang sama di perairan negara itu.

Beliau berkata, dalam perjumpaan hari ini, kedua-dua pihak juga bersetuju supaya nelayan yang melakukan aktiviti perikanan di kawasan tradisional tidak akan dihalang berbuat demikian jika termasuk ke kawasan perairan kedua-dua negara.

“Mereka ini tak kenal antara kawasan (perairan) Brunei dan Malaysia,” katanya.

Tambah beliau, kedua-dua negara juga akan meneruskan usaha penentuan tanda sempadan darat di kawasan yang masih belum dimuktamadkan.

Mengenai pembinaan Lebuh Raya Pan Borneo menghubungkan Sarawak, Sabah dan Brunei yang dijangka siap enam tahun lagi, beliau berkata, kerajaan Brunei akan membuat perancangan awal supaya bahagian lebuh raya yang melalui Brunei akan mempunyai kemudahan asas tambahan untuk keselesaan pengguna lebuh raya itu nanti.

Katanya, hubungan yang terjalin selama ini antara kedua-dua negara akan terus dijadikan landasan untuk mengorak langkah ke hadapan serta menambah baik apa yang diusahakan, selain mencari bidang kerjasama yang baharu dan boleh diterokai bersama antara Brunei dan Malaysia.


Sumber - Media Permata

Brunei Darussalam eyes ‘agri-tech’ route to self-sufficiency

Innovative agricultural initiatives launched in Brunei Darussalam, such as developing new rice hybrids and growing plants in water, underline how agro-technology can edge the Sultanate closer to its goal of food self-sufficiency.

Figures released by the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood (DAA) in November showed that the agrifood sector, which excludes livestock and crops, made up nearly 30% of the overall industry in 2013, with a total value of $86.2m representing a 37% increase year-on-year. Between 2009 and 2012, the agrifood industry represented 22-23% of the sector.

While Brunei is about the size of Bangkok, three quarters of the Sultanate’s 526,500 ha is under forest cover, of which the government has allowed only 1%, or 5895 ha, for agricultural use. The limited availability of land has meant that agri-tech programmes in rice cultivation and fish farming have played a key role in increasing domestic output.

Self-sufficiency

The agriculture sector’s share of GDP is 0.72% and employs just 1.4% of the population, estimated at 425,000. Further growth is important for a nation that is dependent on imported foods that account for as much as 80% of the national food supply. The sultanate imports most of its rice requirements from Thailand and has recently started purchasing from Vietnam and Cambodia.

This has prompted ambitious targets: the government wants to achieve 60% self-sufficiency in rice by 2015 compared with the current level of 5%, as well as a 170% growth in fisheries to $187.7m by 2023 and increasing the value of the livestock segment to $140m.

Ministers have admitted that previous rice self-sufficiency targets were a “tall-order” but inroads are being made, albeit small ones. The minister of industry and primary resources (MIPR), YB Pehin Dato Hj Yahya, recently announced near self-sufficiency in its poultry and egg industry, and more than 80% self-sufficiency in seafood products and tropical vegetables.

Boosting rice yields

Rice innovation is an important part of Brunei's agricultural development. The country is working closely with its neighbours on various programmes and building new facilities such as the recently-opened plant in Kg Wasan, situated in the north of the state. The rice-milling facility, which removes the husk and the bran layers from paddy rice, opened in August and is capable of producing 5800 metric tonnes of rice per year. But officials say another site is needed.

“This new complex has a grind capacity of 3.5 metric tonnes ... and if used all the time, will enable us to achieve 20% (self-sufficiency in) rice production. In order for us to (attain) the 60% (rice self-sufficiency rate), we will have to build a high capacity centre which can produce up to 7.5 metric tonnes per hour,” said the MIPR minister, YB Pehin Dato Hj Yahya.

To boost output a new hybrid rice, titih, which can increase yields from 2 to 3 tonnes per ha to the 3.8-8.7 tonnes per ha range, is being deployed.

In a further bid to increase the productivity level of its rice fields, Malaysia has agreed to help Brunei with a $6m project − which will be part-funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) − drawing on the technology know-how of its neighbour.

“Brunei has the ambition to become self sufficient in rice production and Malaysia has the technology, the expertise and the willingness to share,” said Kunrat Wirasubrata, acting director of the IDB Group Regional Office, as quoted by local media.

Growing food in water

One nascent area of development being explored is farming techniques based on aquaponics, a system of growing plants and aquatic species such as fish and prawns in water, eliminating the need for soil and also fertilisers − often a source of worry for farmers.

Local agro-technology company BfB confirmed on November 3 that it was collaborating with government agencies to introduce aquaponics in Brunei to promote sustainable farming and food security. The technology would allow people to grow food and vegetables in outdoor ponds or in an aquarium inside their house.

BfB has been given 1 ha of land on Jalan Lampaki at Kg Mulaut by the MIPR to carry out farming projects, and also plans to open a factory in Serasa where an aquaponics garden will be installed on the rooftop.


Sumber - Oxford Business Group

Fishing industry targets dropped by 34 per cent

Koo Jin Shen
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

FISHING industry targets for 2012 fell short by at least 34 per cent on average, according to information obtained from the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.

Based on a presentation by the Department of Fisheries, the total targeted 'achievement' across three main areas Capture Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Seafood Processing of the fishing industry fell short by 8546 metric tonnes of the 24, 751 targeted for 2012. In terms of monetary earnings, it fell short of 35 per cent, some $48 million dollars.

In Capture Fisheries, the industry had only achieved 64 per cent of the target, reaching only 13,625 metric tonnes out of the 21,300 targeted and only $72 million out of the targeted $112 million.

For Aquaculture, the industry reached only 548 metric tonnes out of the 1315 targeted (42 per cent) and only $7 million out of the $14 million targeted (50 per cent) for 2012.

Seafood Processing however, reached 96 and 98 per cent of their production and monetary targets respectively, reaching 2,031 metric tonnes out of the 2,106 targeted and $8.8 million out of the $9 million targeted for 2012.

The presentation highlighted existing issues within all three sectors. For Capture Fisheries, it noted non-operational vessels and management problems. In the Aquaculture sector, diseases from the month of February to April 2012 was one of the farms' problems as well as insufficient seawater supply, lack of pond maintenance associated with financial problems and an insufficient supply of good quality fish fry.

In Seafood Processing, insufficient raw material was an issue.

The presentation also noted that there are less fishermen in 2012 when compared to in 2011. There were 950 full time fishermen in 2012 compared to 1,187 in 2011 and 2,626 part time fishermen in 2012 compared to 2,707 in 2011.

Numbers in Aquaculture had also gone down, with only 57 aquaculture entrepreneurs in 2012 compared to the 72 in 2011. Seafood processing entrepreneurs had however gone up, with 76 in 2012 compared to 65 in 2011.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

86 peratus hasil ikan dalam negara membanggakan

Oleh: Samle Haji Jait

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Isnin, 18 Mac. - Persoalan bila jangka perusahaan perikanan di negara ini sampai ke tahap sara diri kerana ketika ini masih lagi banyak bergantung kepada import menjadi perhatian Menteri Perindustrian dan Sumber-Sumber Utama.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar ketika menjawab Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Tahamit bin Haji Nudin menjelaskan pada masa ini belum mencukupi 100 peratus tetapi 86 peratus itu sudah cukup, tetapi belum memuaskan lagi.

"Kalau dapat kita akan mengeluarkan lebih daripada 100 peratus sebab keadaan pasaran dan keadaan pengeluaran ikan ini adalah bermusim dan mengikut keadaan cuaca. Keperluan-keperluan untuk memproses juga kalau dapat dilebihkan daripada 100 peratus bagi membolehkan lebihnya itu diproses untuk dijadikan value added dan sebagainya," jelas Yang Berhormat.

Yang Berhormat juga menekankan negara juga mengelakkan daripada memasukkan ikan-ikan daripada luar negara bagaimanapun kita belum dapat menjanjikan bilakah kita dapat 100 peratus hidup sara diri, tetapi namun pada masa ini kita telah dapat mengeluarkan 86 peratus hasil ikan dalam negara.

Menyentuh mengenai kemudahan perikanan di Mukim Lumapas, Menteri Perindustrian dan Sumber-Sumber Utama menjelaskan kawasan-kawasan untuk kemudahan perikanan di situ, akan diambil tindakan oleh Jabatan Perikanan yang akan melihat kawasan-kawasan tersebut sekiranya sesuai untuk dimajukan di kawasan tersebut.

Sementara itu, Yang Berhormat mengakui isu penyambungan lesen memang diakui menghadapi yang masalah yang perlu diatasi.

"Dulu barangkali diberi lesen itu diberikan tiga bulan sahaja, kini lesen-lesen tersebut telah diberikan satu tahun. Mudah-mudahan dengan memberi lesen bukan dalam tempoh tiga bulan tetapi dalam diberi tempoh satu tahun, masalah penyambungan itu akan dapat diselesaikan," jelas Yang Berhomat bagi menjawab persoalan Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Jumaat bin Akim.

Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Jumaat memaklumkan penyambungan lesen bagi industri perikanan telah terdapat sungutan-sungutan daripada orang ramai kerana kelambatan menerima keputusan daripada pihak yang berkenaan.

Dipetik dari - Pelita Brunei

Sustainable development of maritime resources vital

Syazwan Sadikin
BRUNEI-MUARA

ALL activities of the maritime sector in Brunei should be conducted in line with the concept of sustainable development as part of efforts towards turning the country into one of the world's most significant maritime nations, said the Minister of Communications yesterday.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar who delivered his speech after officiating at Green Port Initiative at the Ports Department yesterday talked extensively on sustainable development in the local maritime sector.

The minister said that as Brunei aspired to emerge as a developed country, the contribution and the role of its maritime sector to fulfil this aim had been highlighted and was becoming more significant.

He said that stakeholders should focus on the philosophy of sustainable development in the local maritime sector including protecting the environment when developing maritime infrastructure and in promoting maritime economic activities such as shipping, fisheries and offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

As the maritime sector continues to have an increased importance in the nation's economy, YB Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah said that it had become critical for stakeholder with interests in the maritime sector to create an organised plan and develop economic maritime activities in support of defending the country's maritime interests. "Activities relating to maritime protection as well as joint initiatives in this sector should be planned with care and continuously promoted in accordance with fulfilling the needs of sustainable development," said the minister.

He added that sustainable development should be made as the main aspiration in planning the maritime economy in Brunei to guarantee that future generations will appreciate the environment as well as maritime resources that have been preserved.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah hopes that soon-to-be implemented Maritime Master Plan will further develop the maritime industry of Brunei and further assist in achieving the intended aim in an exceptional, organised and effective manner. "With that, it is appropriate that the activities relating to this critical sector should be planned, implemented and managed in accordance to an eco-friendly philosophy to ensure that the resources and nation's maritime assets are preserved for future generations," said the minister.

The ministry, said YB Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah, takes the issue of solving pollution relating to the transportation sector very seriously as it is part of the ministry's core strategic plan for a safe and clean environment. The initiative towards a Green Port, said the minister, would fulfil the aim by providing an action plan based on international good practices and management programmes based on environment, safety and health towards developing maritime activities based on the principles of strong development and sustainability. "The initiative towards a Green Port is not only limited to the conservation of the environment and its resources, but also covers management of human resources and finance as well as physical building," said the minister.

This concept, said the minister, would be included in the planning and management of Muara Port Container Expansion Project in the 10th National Development Plan (RKN) project which will be implemented by the Ports Department in a short time.

He went on to say that as an important part of Brunei's economic success, it was critical that the country should maintain and enhance its efforts to balance the growth of the maritime sector in terms of the preservation of the environment, its resources and development. The minister said that aspects of preserving the environment should be stressed in development, implementation, administration and monitoring maritime economic activities through effective steps such as "Environmental Impact Assessment" for every development project around the maritime area.

"A well organised plan should be stressed in the management of the port's area including the coast to prevent and minimise pollution," said the minister.

YB Pehin Dato Hj Abdullah raised the importance of conservation of the eco-system and biodiversity and in in preserving the resources of maritime economy such as shipping, development and port operation. "If left unchecked and not eco-friendly can contribute to the maritime pollution," said the minister.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Fisheries promise for local industry

THE launch of a major seafood processing plant highlights the progress the Sultanate is making in its plans to diversify from oil and resources and position itself as a centre of value-added industry. However, a shortage of available land to further develop the industry sector has been identified as a limiting factor.

In December 2012, the Multipurpose Marine Resources Processing and Business Centre, a US$30 million seafood processing plant, became fully operational. The facility is a result of collaborative efforts between Semaun Marine Resources and the Golden Corporation, an investment firm.

Innovative industry techniques at the processing centre see unmarketable fish that cannot be sold to consumers re-processed and turned into value-added products, such as surimi (fish puree). Previously, fishermen were discarding 70-90 per cent, or 400-500 kg, of each catch.

In January, the government also announced the first harvest of its Brunei Darussalam specific pathogen-free (SPF) black tiger shrimp project. The five-year programme, in development since 2007 by the Department of Fisheries and US-based Integrated Aquaculture International, aims to produce genetically improved SPF black tiger shrimp.

South Korean officials have also identified seafood processing as an area of major investment potential. "I think our Bruneian partners should explore (fisheries) possibilities by working with Korean investors and with the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources," said Choi Byung Koo, the ambassador of South Korea to the Sultanate, when speaking to local media in October.

A month earlier, a visiting South Korean government official said the Sultanate has untapped opportunities for investment by South Korean firms, particularly in the areas of construction, tourism and food manufacturing.

"We look at Brunei as a high potential market in this region, due to its strategic location, and the country has a higher per-capita income than South Korea. Most South Korean companies believe Brunei is a great place to invest," said Kyung-Yun Yeom, deputy head of the trade and investment unit at the ASEAN-Korea Centre.

There has also been increased interest in industrial parks and planned investment from elsewhere in East Asia, with Japan-based Mitsubishi announcing in October plans to expand its workforce in the Sultanate.

Mitsubishi recently opened a new office in Jalan Pemancha that will oversee a number of potential projects, including an ammonia production and pharmaceuticals plant, as well as existing projects on automated cultivation, sustainable agriculture and solar power.

Mitsubishi has a long, symbiotic history with Brunei Darussalam, having helped develop the oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries that dominate the economy. For example, it participated in a major LNG project in 1970 at the start of the Sultanate's resource growth period.

The Japanese firm is behind plans for six downstream petrochemicals plants, with an aggregate investment of $2.8 billion, to be built at the 271-ha Sungai Liang Industrial Park (SPARK). The plants are expected to produce a range of chemicals using Brunei Darussalam's abundant natural gas as a feedstock.

In March 2012 it was revealed that SPARK had created 180 jobs since opening its doors in 2011, and the authorities estimate it will provide 2000 more employment opportunities as the petrochemical plants come online.

A study conducted by the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies in April 2012 said Brunei Darussalam would need around 108,000 jobs in the private sector if it wants to achieve full employment by 2035. The study found that the Sultanate would also need an estimated 515,000 sq metres of commercial floor space and 1300 ha of land for industrial sites to support such growth.

However, critics say that to boost the industrial sector, the government must create opportunities for the private sector to invest in unused land. Roger Gibbins, chairman of SGS Economics and Planning, one of the consultants involved in the study for the land optimisation strategy for industrial and commercial growth, said in November that a land release programme would create opportunities for private sector investment.

"If you create the opportunities, the private sector will come along," said Gibbins, pointing out that new land has not been released for private ownership in Brunei Darussalam since 1954.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times

Hot Topics: Save Our Temburong River From Pollution

The recent news item in the Sunday Bulletin about the rising levels of pollution in Temburong River is indeed an eye-opener when it comes to keeping our green environment clean.

We have been blessed with a clean, green habitat that receives regular rainfall and offers a warm temperature all year around.

It's sad to see that some of us take our habitat for granted and hope that the evil we plant by damaging our pristine rainforest areas will somehow go away.

This happens regularly in our beaches as well as when we go picnicking in secluded areas in our rainforest kingdom.

Most picnickers do not clean up and leave it as clean as it was before they arrived.

Lessons on cleaning up after a picnic can be taught to young children, but how can we teach adults?

They should know better and set an example to their young children to act with some responsibility.

Little bad habits such as these can grow to mammoth proportion like what we read in the Sunday Bulletin news.

The pollution on Temburong River, which may have started small, has now reached a worrying level, than us carelessly polluting with left-over food and plastic bags.

Yet as commonsense dictates pollution begins with small actions. If one litters in a small way to begin with, one may not see or notice the big destruction one can cause by one's sheer unconcern for the environment.

What we read about the Temburong River pollution has ended up with high level authorities visiting after the destruction caught the attention of government authorities.

Luckily action is set to be taken to ensure that damage to the area caused by negligent construction-related activities is reduced.

The Minister of Development himself, who made a working visit to Temburong, said that some quarry operators in the area have been mismanaging their operations, resulting in the rising levels of pollution in the river.

This pollution had not only destroyed the local eco-system but also the very livelihood of people living in the area who are dependent of natural resources provided by the waterways.

The quarry operation has been running in this way for the last three to four decades and authorities found that some of the activities conducted by them had not complied with regulations, bringing negative impacts, especially on the river.

It even resulted in the water quality in Temburong River going down as well as get murky, proving that the filtering process when cleaning gravel dug up from quarries was not up to required standard.

More trouble followed as even the lobster and fish population began to dwindle, hitting the local fishing income.

Hopefully the authorities will act fast and teach the perpetrators how to carry out their business without harming our habitat further.

So we can see what happens when one does not discipline one self against little careless actions against the environment.

Dipetik dari - BruDirect.com

MIPR to enforce marine protected areas in 2013

Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) is set to enforce regulations for Brunei's marine protected areas beginning next year, the minister said.

Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar (pic) said the areas will be designated "no-take zones" where no fishing will be allowed in a bid to curb overfishing in the country.

Stock of demersal fish (fish which live and feed on or near the sea floor) in Brunei has declined considerably to about 21 per cent of virgin stock levels, according to data provided by the ministry.

The decline in stock levels has prompted the ministry to seek ways to ensure the survival of Brunei's marine ecosystem and its sustainability for the future.

The Department of Fisheries has begun formulating and implementing strategies to increase productivity, resource sustainability and ensure equal share among the country's fishermen the ministry said in a statement.

One of the measures include the implementation of a quota system for fishing licenses used for commercial-scale operations such as trawlers, purse seiners and long liners.

"The calculation of the allowable number of fishing vessels are based on fish stocks available and the conditions of the area which are further decreased by the presence of oil structures and reef areas sharing the entire continental shelf," said the ministry in the statement.

The ministry said it will also begin enforcing a regulation which requires all local trawlers to use square-meshed fishing nets with a maximum of 51mm in terms of "mesh size". The ruling was imposed in 2002 to all local trawlers operating in the country.

YB Pehin Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya said that the ministry will also continue the implementation of the moratorium on industrial trawl fishing in Brunei waters, which has been in place since 2001, as well as the suspension of fishing operations in Zone 1.

The moratorium on fishing operations in Zone 1, located three nautical miles from the coast (including the Brunei Bay), has been in place since January 2008.

The minister said that the ministry still needs to identify the exact areas stipulated under the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Zone 1 and Zone 2.

MIPR will inform the public after the exact areas have been identified and graded, the minister said.

"Hopefully, by next year, it will be put in place. It is still a work in progress," he said.

The minister acknowledged that the size of the protected zones will pose a big challenge to the ministry, particularly in terms of enforcement as it will require "a lot of enforcement resources".

Foreign encroachment, illegal use of banned fishing gears or unlicensed gears and methods as well as climate change have been identified as some of the major causes of overfishing in Brunei, he said.

He also said that the ministry is trying to convince people to move away from capture fishing into aquaculture.

"As far as domestic demand is concerned, we are alright and some of the fish are even being exported, like the tuna which is being caught and sold to nearby countries," he said.

"We will be learning best practices from other countries, and getting the best out of technology because we can't afford to spend money on manpower," he said.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times