Membership of the Fishermen's Associations is classified into four different categories in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Section 11 of the Fishermen's Associations Act. These are: (i) full time fishermen (as defined under sub-section (1)a), (ii) fish dealers and processors (as defined under sub-section (1)b), (iii) those who derive 60% or more of their total income from occupations related to the fishing industry (as defined under sub-section (1)c), and (iv) the associate members (as defined under sub-section (2) of the said Section).
The Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association divides 10 fishermen's villages scattered in the whole district into two groups for its economic and social activities. One group is in the Geting Area with two villages and the other is in the Tumpat Area with the remaining 8 villages.
The breakdown of the total membership of the PN in these areas, categories of membership, and races is indicated in Appendix I - 1.
More than 75% of all the fishermen registered in Tumpat District have already joined the PN, since 1,414 full time fishermen from among 1,844 total registered fishermen in the district are listed under the category of 11(1)a.
The majority of the members fall in the category of full time fishermen. Almost 98% of the total membership is of Malay descent.
In the past, there used to be quite a number of non-operator-boat-owners (towkay) dominating the fishing industry in the district. They have now completely retreated from the industry as a consequence of the PN gradually exerting its influence over the industry. Almost all boat owners who are full members of the PN, under the category of 11(1)a, are in fact the owner-operators at present.
The membership of the PN increased sharply during 1986 and 1987, as indicated in Appendix I - 2. These increases are mainly attributed to the introduction of LKIM's new credit scheme meant only for members of PNs.
The PN has also provided training opportunities not only to members but also to non-member fishermen. This might have encouraged these non-member fishermen to participate in the PN.
Furthermore, the Government has enforced a new compulsory insurance scheme for crews of fishing boats the premium of which shall be paid by boat owners at the time of renewal of their fishing licences on boat and gears every year. The fishermen's associations were appointed the sole agent of this insurance scheme. This factor may also have encouraged the non-member boat owners to join the PN.
The results of the socio-economic survey recently carried out in the Tumpat District by the project may reveal the reasons for the participation of fishermen in the PN. There is no doubt, however, that it is the government schemes on credit, insurance and licensing that have mainly influenced fishermen in joining the PN rather than the benefits that have been provided by the PN themselves.
The Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association has specified in its constitution (by-laws) that the minimum amount of share contribution (one share), entrance fee and annual subscription shall be M$5.00, M$5.00 and M$1.00 respectively. The share contribution, entrance fee and annual subscription paid by members in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 are listed in Appendix I - 3 together with the accumulated balance of the share contribution and entrance fee at the end of each year.
The average share contribution paid by either new members or all members always exceeded the minimum value of M$5.00 (one share), but the average entrance fee paid by all members has remained far below the minimum requirement of M$5.00. The main factor behind this shortage in the entrance fee is that no entrance fee was paid to the PN by the former members of the two fishermen's cooperative societies, nor was there any transfer of such fees from these societies when they were merged with the PN.
The Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association has established the organizational structure of the administrative, accounting, credit, economic and social activities as seen in the organization chart in Appendix II.
Of the 18 staff working in the PN, five including the General Manager are seconded from LKIM, with their salaries and allowances paid also by LKIM. This, therefore, cuts down on personnel expenses which otherwise would be double the M$50,000 appropriated in 1986.
Diesel and Ice Supply and Fish Marketing, the major activities of the PN, have greatly advanced as a result of the introduction of fish auctioning at the Geting Fish Complex in January 1986. Overtime allowances for six PN staff working in the Complex have, thus, sharply increased amounting to almost M$10,000 in 1986 as compared to the M$3,400, M$2,400 and M$3,000 paid out in 1983, 1984 and 1985, respectively. As the supervisors of these projects are not eligible for overtime allowances (being LKIM-seconded staff) and, thus, apparently worked only during regular hours on most days, it is assumed that there was no strict control on overtime work at the site.
Furthermore, there seems to be too heavy overheads as one third of the total number of staff is assigned to administrative and accounting posts.
At an early stage of its operation, the Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association had launched the supplying of inputs such as diesel and lubricants in Tumpat, Dalam Rhu and Geting and fish marketing including auctioning in Geting.
The 20 trawlers (each 30 GRT) of the LKIM Trawl Project operating in the district supplied catches for the PN auction. Because of the failure to collect bills for fish sales to dealers in time, the PN was unable to pay LKIM for the fish supplied, resulting thus in outstanding debts under the General Account of the PN accounts for many years. Besides the LKIM fleet, some member fishermen who also delivered catches to the auction were also not paid for their supplies by the PN on time.
The PN which was then under the control of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) was prevailed upon to abandon the auctioning of fish. Following the suspension of the PN auction, LKIM continued auctioning catch landed by the LKIM trawl fleet in Geting landing point where the trawl fleet was based.
The LKIM Trawl Project was abolished in 1981 and all trawlers were transferred to the Hire-Purchase Scheme for local fishermen. The LKIM Geting Fish Complex was completed and commenced operations in 1982; however, the major services of the Complex (mainly for the hire-purchase fleet and fish auctioning) were provided directly by LKIM initially.
Until January 1986 when the Geting Fish Complex was declared the sole wholesale fish market in the district under the Fish Marketing Regulations 1973, fish landed in Geting Fish Complex by some member fishermen were being handled by the PN on a small scale, the latter receiving a 5% commission on fish sales.
Following the gazetting of Geting Fish Complex as sole wholesale fish market in January 1986, the PN was appointed by LKIM to be sole auctioneer in the market, creating an impact not only on the fish marketing project but also on other major projects of the PN, including diesel and ice supply, located in the Geting area. The progress of these major projects plus the retail shop in Tumpat, in terms of sales value, from January 1984 to June 1987 is shown in Appendices III - 1 and 2.
The accumulated sales values at the end of each month for 12 months during this period adopted as an indicator of the progress of business operations, clearly reflects the true picture of growth or decline trends as the monthly value and/or volume of any business not only in the commercial sector but also in the production is always reflect the seasonal fluctuation which may aften make an evaluation in misjudgment.
As mentioned earlier, the PN has undertaken fish auctioning since January 1986. According to the Fish Marketing Regulations 1973, LKIM may designate by notification in the Gazette an area as a Fish Marketing Control Area and at the same time declare a place or places within such an Area as a wholesale fish market. All fish dealing within the Area must be carried out only in this wholesale fish market. Furthermore, the Regulation also stipulates that fish dealing within any declared wholesale fish market be done only by way of auction, private treaty or other methods so determined by LKIM.
Whole areas of Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak have already been designated as Fish Marketing Control Areas. The Geting Fish Complex was declared as the only wholesale fish market in the state of Kelantan in January 1986, and auctioning was determined by LKIM as the system of trading and the Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association appointed as the sole auctioneer in the market.
Since then, the volume and value of fish traded by the PN fish marketing project has until March 1987 shown enormous increase as shown in Appendices IV - 1, 2, 3 and 4.
However, quantities and values of fish traded by the PN in Geting Complex have suddenly begun declining. This is mainly attributed to delays in making payments to fishermen by the PN owing particularly to failure in collection of monies promptly from fish buyers. A poor season may also have partly attributed to the decline.
Besides, the commitment of member fishermen to the PN auction is still weak; only about 50 boats regularly land fish in Geting Complex for an auction as compared to the 187 inboard-powered boats registered in the Geting area. If all fish caught by fishermen in Tumpat district were to be landed in Geting Complex as per Fish Marketing Regulations 1973, the volume of fish traded by the PN would be triple that of the present maximum volume of 900 MT for 12 months. Total fish catch in the district is estimated at around 3,000 MT annually.
LKIM is planning to establish a mini fish complex in Tumpat in the near future, funds for which have already been allocated. Upon its completion, LKIM will declare the complex a wholesale fish market in Tumpat area and appoint the PN to be the sole auctioneer for the market, which may result in further progress of PN fish marketing.
The method of fish auctioning adopted by the PN fish marketing project is similar to the one recommended by the Besut Integrated Fisheries Development Project, GCP/MAL/009/CAN.
To cover balances of monies needed for payments to fishermen and collection from fish dealers for fish sales, Bank Pertanian 1 has approved a M$40,000 loan to the PN, at annual interest rate of 4%, in addition to the LKIM Launching Grant of M$25,000 extended in 1982.
The Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association is operating its fuel supply project in Tumpat, Dalam Rhu and Geting; however most of the operation is carried out in Geting. Total sales of the project have until January 1986 clearly shown a downward trend, shifting upwards since then, influenced perhaps by the implementation of fish auctioning in Geting Fish Complex. Total sales trend of the fuel supply project is shown in Appendix V.
The PN fuel supply project remains in a competitive position as diesel prices in Thailand from where fishermen in Tumpat district often purchase fishing gears and ice are higher than in Malaysia. Furthermore, private diesel suppliers in the district seem to be reluctant to supply diesel to local fishermen on credit as the settlement of payment of diesel prices by means of fish is prohibited since the setting up of the wholesale fish market in the Geting Complex.
However, the commitment of member fishermen to the PN fuel supply project is still weak - only about 80 inboard-powered boats of members regularly come to Geting Complex for refueling.
The PN supplies diesel fuel at a price of M.Sen 49.4 per liter, slightly higher than the private sector in the district. The fuel is purchased from the National Fishermen's Association (NEKMAT)2 through the State Fishermen's Association of Kelantan, at a price of M.Sen 43.77 per liter. The PN fuel supply project received a launching grant of M$38,000 from LKIM in 1977.
2 Persatuan Nelayan Kebangsaan - NEKMAT.
There is only one. ice supply station with flake-ice making machine of 10 ton/day capacity operated by the PN in the Geting Fish Complex. The ice making plant in Geting Complex, which was donated by the Government of New Zealand in 1977, has been leased out to the PN by LKIM.
Due particularly to poor maintenance of the ice machine, the PN could not supply any ice for almost three months in 1984 which resulted in a downward trend in the progress of operations until June 1985, but the operation has recovered since then and exhibited continued growth in sales until April 1987 as indicated in Appendix VI.
The project is now supplying ice produced by its own plant as well as ice purchased locally as the capacity of the ice making plant is insufficient to cover total demand in the area.
However, the volume of sales again declined due to the closure of the ice plant for overhaul which may take several months to complete. The overhaul work is expected to be delayed mainly because spare parts have to be imported from U.S.A.
If the PN have foreseen the time needed for delivery of spare parts from the U.S.A. and made the order in advance or kept appropriate spare-parts in stock, the non-operational period of the ice plant could have been shortened. In actual fact, the spare parts were only ordered a couple of months after the closure of the plant.
There is no ice supply facility in Tumpat nor in Dalam Rhu where many members moor their boats and refuel from the PN fuel supply project. Once the mini fish complex has been constructed in Tumpat, the PN should arrange appropriate ice supply facilities there. This would further boost the ice supply project.
At present, the PN purchases block-ice from local plants for its operation, but the purchasing prices offered by the suppliers as well as the selling prices offered to fishermen are not as competitive as those in Thailand. The PN's selling price of flake-ice is M$3.10/100 lbs., block-ice M$6.00/200 lbs. whereas the selling price of block-ice in Thailand is M$6.00/300 lbs. The PN pays M$5.50 per 200 lbs. of block-ice on delivery, and M$5.00 on pick-up to local suppliers.
As in the fuel supply project, the commitment of member fishermen to this project is also weak. Quite a large quantity of ice has also been supplied from PN to fish dealers for their fish packing in the Geting Complex.
LKIM also extended M$10.000 to this project in 1982 as Launching Grant.
It was a policy of LKIM to have all fishermen's associations to undertake a retail shop project, and LKIM established the Central Purchasing Unit within LKIM in 1978 as one of its projects for centralised purchasing of all merchandise including diesel and fishing gears on behalf of PN retail shop projects in the country. For the operation of its Central Purchasing Unit, LKIM also established distribution depots for merchandise in each state and the central depot in Subang, Selangor.
The Central Purchasing Unit was closed down in 1985, and the purchasing of merchandise other than diesel fuel and fishing gears has been undertaken by each PN since then, but collective purchasing of diesel fuel and fishing gears is now being carried out by NEKMAT and/or State Fishermen's Associations.
The Tumpat Area Fishermen's Association has undertaken retail shop operations in Dalam Rhu, Geting and Tumpat with launching grants amounting to M$50,000 each being extended by LKIM for the Geting and Tumpat shops in 1978. Additional grants of M$25,000 each were provided to these two shops in 1980; these grants were paid both in cash and merchandise supplied by the Central Purchasing Unit.
The retail shop in Dalam Rhu closed its operation some years ago, and the shop in Geting also closed its operation in 1984 due to heavy losses. Stock from the Geting shop was then transferred to the Tumpat shop.
Sales in the Tumpat shop have shown a fairly steady upward trend until November 1985, but the sign of a decline in sales are increasingly apparent since then, as indicated in Appendix VII. No evidence can be found of any appreciable recovery in the operation of the project.
In addition to the decline in sales volume, the PN retail shop project in Tumpat has dipped deeply into deficit in 1985 and in 1986 which shall be described in detail in a latter chapter of this report. Some concern has been expressed as to whether the PN should close the Tumpat retail shop or continue its operation.
The PN launched the boat repair project in Tumpat in 1980 with a Launching Grant of M$35,000 extended by LKIM. An additional grant of M$32,200 was given to this project by LKIM in 1982. However, due to a chronic deficit from the beginning of operations, the project ceased operation and leased out its shop together with full set of machinery which were valued at more than M$50,000 to the private sector in 1985, at an annual rental of M$4,800.
The PN also launched a cockle culture project with a Launching Grant of M$50,000 provided by LKIM in 1980. However, the project failed mainly due to unsuitable water conditions in the culture area. The project ceased operations at the end of 1985.
A new project in 1986 by the PN is the culture of Seabass (Siakap) in cages. Twenty PN member participate in the project. The performance of the project is unknown at present.
There seems to have been a boat repair shop in the Geting area some years ago, which was set up with a Launching Grant of M$35,000 from LKIM. Reliable information and records of the existence and operation of such a project were not, however, available.
The PN runs kindergartens for children of member fishermen and sewing classes for wives and daughters of members in Tumpat, Geting and Dalam Rhu in cooperation with the Department of Community Development (KEMAS) 1. The PN provides the premises for both activities and KEMAS provides the kindergarten school teachers, sewing instructors and sewing machines.
The PN has established two funds for its social activities of which one is the Education Support Fund and the other is the Emergency Fund for Fishermen. The PN provides the expenses of school uniforms and other supplies for the children of members newly entering schools out of the Education Support Fund. The PN also grants monetary aid to a member fisherman from the Emergency Fund in case he suddenly becomes sick or is injured.
The social services of the PN have been very much appreciated by most of the members. They have not, however, encouraged members to be more committed to the PN and participate in it more actively.
1 Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat.
