Published: Monday November 26, 2012 MYT 4:57:00 PM

Malaysia, 5 other countries to share maritime data to curb overfishing

By JOSEPH SIPALAN

PUTRAJAYA: Plans are in place for Malaysia and five other countries to share their data on maritime movement under the Coral Triangle Initiative-Coral Reefs Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) to keep tabs on overfishing.

Science,Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Maximus J Ongkili, who currently chairs the initiative, said Monday that top representatives from each of the six CTI-CFF member countries acknowledged the need to share information to tackle issues such as encroachment by foreign fishing vessels.

“I must stress that in terms of databases and monitoring (maritime movement), this not only involves governments but also the private sector and the people on the ground.

“With such cooperation, we can capture each ship passing through the area in real time using satellites. We are already doing that with Indonesia in the Straits of Malacca,” he said after the 8th CTI-CFF Senior Officials Meeting and 4th Ministerial Meeting that ended Monday.

Aside from Malaysia, which currently holds the CTI-CFF chairmanship from 2011 to 2013, other member countries include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.

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