THE Penang government will continue to increase the amount of sea produce to care for the welfare of fishermen.
State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said the state hoped to stabilise the market price of sea produce by increasing the amount.
“The Penang government has organised two programmes involving artificial reefs in Penang waters.
“In 2015, about 1,000 units of artificial reefs were dropped into the sea off Pulau Aman and Pulau Kendi.
“Last year, 42 units of artificial reefs (interlock and stack-on, triangle, and tetrahedral) were dropped into the sea off Pulau Kendi,” he said in his winding-up speech at the State Assembly recently.
Opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid (BN-Telok Ayer Tawar) had earlier claimed a decrease in sea produce which she believed was due to land reclamation projects.
Dr Afif said Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) approval needed to be obtained before any land reclamation projects can be conducted.
“This is to minimise the impact of the projects to the environment and the ecosystem,” he said.
Dr Afif added that the sea produce increased by 7,230 metric tonnes last year compared to 2015.