GEORGE TOWN: Mother Nature has been kind to the inshore fishermen of Sungai Batu in the South West District of Penang Island.
She has provided them with the luxury of uninterrupted fishing throughout the year, even during the wet monsoon season when other fishermen would dread to venture out to sea.
Mother Natureâs gift to these fishermen is a sheltered bay at the southern tip of the island where the fishermen haul in their catches protected from the inclement weather.
Mohd Ismail Ahmad, 60, said Sungai Batu fishermen like him are able to fish throughout the year, thanks to the Sungai Batu waters being in a sheltered bay.
âThis area is sheltered from the huge waves. We do not have a wet monsoon season and can go out to sea without any fear,â he told Bernama at the Sungai Batu fishermenâs market.
In a day, a boat can land a catch – comprising an assortment of fish as well as prawns and crabs – that can fetch as much as RM2,000, he said.
Another fisherman, Mohd Yusoff Saidon, 64, said that while he regards the monsoon season as a blessing, he takes precautions nevertheless when there is a storm.
âHere, we can go out to sea at any time except when there is a storm. Then, we stay put for a day or two but unlike the fishermen in the east coast of the peninsula who do not go out to sea for a month or two during the monsoon season,â he said.
Prawns, crabs, pomfret and other fish make up the bulk of the catches during the wet season, he said, adding that he usually will land between 60 kg and 100 kg of kembong (mackerel) a day.
One fisherman, Rosli Sahak, 60, said the Sungai Batu waters should be preserved as development can jeopardise the ecosystem and have an undesirable effect on the plight of the fishermen.
He also said that some of the fishermen use trawl nets which churn up the slime on the sea floor, resulting in pollution of the sea water as well as destruction of fish roe and damage to the gill nets used by the other fishermen. -Bernama
