Impact of shrimp trawling on fishery resources

Abstract

Shrimps are the most important export item amongst the fish and fish product trade of Malaysia. The most important fishing gear employed to catch shrimps are shrimp trawls. Present shrimp trawling practice yields 68.2% of trash fish in its total catch. This catch is discarded at sea, or sold at a very low price for utilization as animal feed, fertilizer or as the raw material for fish meal. A major constituent of trash fish (68.5%) are commercially important species. They comprise small sized fish, squids and shrimp that average less than 6 cm in total length and weigh less than 4 gm. In view of the national aspiration to reduce the M$3.0 billion annual import food budget, this waste in the utilization of natural resources must be reduced if not totally eliminated.