Landing Trends of Oceanic Tuna from Malaysian Fisheries Records (2005 - 2020)

Farah Liyana, Omar Hashim (2022) Landing Trends of Oceanic Tuna from Malaysian Fisheries Records (2005 - 2020). [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Tuna is one of important fisheries resource worldwide. This migratory fish is under threat due to intensive fishing resulting from high demand for the meat. The fisheries sector in Malaysia contributed 0.8 percent to the country’s GDP but tuna was not the major contributor to the industry until the early 2000s. Tuna species recorded from the Malaysian fisheries sector comprise two major groups, the oceanic tuna and neritic tuna, with the former group is discussed in this study. The oceanic tuna from Malaysian waters contains four species and their conservation status has been assessed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The present problem associated with tuna fisheries in Malaysia is the increase in landing trend, but the management of the resource has not been well emphasized. The existing licensing system to manage the tuna resource might have not incorporated the landing trends and other factors contributing to the population decline such as destructive fishing and climate change. Therefore, this study explores the secondary landing data of oceanic tuna from the Department of Fisheries Malaysia to determine the trend of the fish for 15 years (2005 – 2020). The secondary data was also used to forecast tuna landing for the year 2023. Only five states have recorded the landing of oceanic tuna, Penang, Sabah, Labuan, Sarawak and Terengganu. The main fishing gear for catching tuna is rods and lines. The results show a trend in landing of oceanic tuna from 2005 to 2020 with a distinct decline between 2011 and 2013. However, the oceanic tuna landing shows a slight variation between January and December. The result of Holt-Winter forecasting method shows the landing of oceanic tuna in Malaysia remains consistent. While the landing of oceanic tuna in Sabah and Labuan is expected to increase in 2023, the landing of oceanic tuna in Penang is expected to decline. The tuna landing in Sarawak seems to be stable. The current trend of the landings and the results of the forecast imply an improvement is needed in the management of tuna resources in Malaysia. The records of tuna landings need to be documented properly which include scientific names, the weather of time of fishing, and habitat characteristic of the fishing area.

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