The Fishing Economy of Malaysia, Technology, Organization or Production and Income Distribution in 1

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The Fishing Economy of Malaysia, Technology,
Organization or Production and Income
Distribution in 1955 1975by G. Sivalingam
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INTRODUCTION

• From 1955-1975 are traced to show the effects of
  the technical changes in fishing economy on the
  organization of production and income
  distribution.

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• Two less capital intensive technologies (the lift
  and Gill drift net) are contrasted with two more
  capital intensive technology (trawlers and purse
  seines), where the trawlers have become more
  dominant.

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TECHNICAL CHANGES IN THE FISHING ECONOMY
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The hook and line, bag nets, barrier nets,
stationary stakes, push/scoop nets, traps and
pots
The lift gill-drift nets
Purse seines the trawlers
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Traditional equipments
Beg nets
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1.0 LIFT NET TECHNOLOGY (pukat tangkul)

• Before 1963,none boat in east coast mechanically
  powered
• In overall,5 boats needed
• - 1 net boat
• - 2 upstream boat
• - 1 down stream boat
• - 1 fishing experts boat (Juruselam)

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• Net boat carries the net and holds one corner
  when the net is cast out and hauled. While the 2
  upstream boats and downstream boat carry the
  other 3 corners of the net.
• Each boat carries 5-7crews
• In 1963- RM 200RM 300 cost for a manual
  operated boat. RM 5000- Mechanized boats
• Net is made of cotton and nylon and has seven
  sections with different sizes of mesh in each
  section

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• The juruselam submerged,hear the fish.
• When fish identified, the net is cast and sinks.
  A parent lure maid from coconut fronds is used.
• The juruselam then moves into the center of the
  net and releases child lure.
• Once the fish are within the net, it is hauled
  manually.
• The best catches are in FEB and MAC

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DISADVANTAGES OF THE LIFT NET

• Cannot be put out to sea everyday in the year
• The strong current it is not possible to haul
  the net correctly if it swept sideways.

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Nets
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2.0 GILL NET AND DRIFT NET (pukat tansi or pukat
dalam and pukat hanyut)

• Advantage can be put out to sea towards the end
  of the monsoon during inclement weather, when the
  water is too rough for larger net
• The gill and drift net boats 12-16 feet long,
  beam of 5 feet, a long keel, a rounded hull long,
  forward-curving bow and stern.

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2.1 THE GILL NETS

• The mesh is 1.5 inch bar .100 fathoms long and
  3-15 fathoms deep. Either made of undyed or dyed
  ramie
• Double headline but no footrope.
• The net is normally set in a straight line
  against the current 3 to 4 miles offshore, at a
  depth 2-10 fathoms

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• Copper rings serve as sinkers, are about 0.125
  inch thick ,are attached to the lower rim of the
  net.
• A variant of gill net
• Advantages
• - net is made of transparent nylon
• - used during the day in the season

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HOW TO DRIVE THE FISH INTO THE NET

• Bent the surface of water with wooden plungers
• Flicker flashlights
• Beat the bamboo flooring inside the boat to
  effect the grilling of the fish of the fish into
  the mesh of the net

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2.2 THE DRIFT NET

• Made of cotton or nylon and has a mesh of lynch
• The foot weighted with stone- attach to the
  footrope by rattan, strings at 2 fathom intervals
• Light bamboo float is used as a marker when the
  net is submerged

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• The net is put against the current- fish swimming
  and entangled in the net.
• The net group puts out to sea in late afternoon,
  return at night.
• Judging through
• - experience
• - knowledge of the prior days catch
• - information gathered from other captains

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MAIN ADVANTAGE OF MECHANIZATION

• Use of large boats- can go further from shore
• Can set many nets per trip
• Lower usage of man power _at_ labour services

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3.0 PURSE SEINE TECHNOLOGY

• The decreased usage was due to the substitution
  of trawlers for purse seine.
• Purse seine boat was fitted with a motor engine
• The boats are normally 30-40 feet long with a
  beam of 50-60 inches and have a draft of 26-28
  inches
• The number of men per boat varies between 10 and
  35 depending on
• - whether it is fitted with a winch
• - the preference of the captain

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3.0 THE PURSE SEINE (pukat jerut tuas,pukat
jaring)

• 240 fathoms long,40 fathoms deep. Made of nylon.
• Lead sinkers about 12 inches long which are
  fitted to the head and foot line.
• At the bottom of the floats, a row of heavy brass
  rings through which a rope is strung.

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• Juruselam identify fish by judgment and
  experience
• Fixed lures of coconut frond to attract fish.
• The net can only be shot 2-3 times at night-
  considering the laborious task.
• The catches- irregular and uncertain-large per
  haul.
• The purse seine boats still operates in bad
  weather

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4.0 TRAWLER TECHNOLOGY (pukat tunda)

• In 1965, trawlers were first legalized.
• Rates of growth differ between the East and West
  coast
• East coast Ratio of trawlers to other boats
  declined from 30in 1975 to 20 in 1978 after
  having increase from 2.6 in 1969 to 30in 1975.
• West coast Ratio of trawlers to all boats
  increased steadily from 10 in 1969 to 26 in
  1978.

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• All trawler boats were fitted with inboard
  engines. They normally operated close to share in
  search of prawns.
• Trawler classified into 3 groups
• i. tonnage
• ii. horsepower
• iii.distance fished.

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Fishing boats
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• 1978,trawlers are underpowered and operated
  within a few miles offshore and it were a threat
  to the less capital- intensive technologies.
• The medium and large boats are similar in design
  the trawlers but vary in the type and power of
  engines that are fitted to them. The engines are
  either new Japanese trawler engines or second
  hand land engines.

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• Trawlers generally go out to sea for less than 24
  hours. Travel time to the fishing ground is 1.5
  -2 hours and actual fishing time is 10 to 19
  hours.
• Larger trawlers are made of hard chengai wood and
  being heavy and highly powered, have the
  advantage of being able to withstand rough
  weather

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COMPARISON OF TECHNOLOGY
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Comparisons of Technology,1978
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ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION IN THE FISHING
ECONOMY
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• COMPARISON OF LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY OF
  TECHNOLOGY,1978
• __________________________________________________
  _____________
• Gear Production Labour Labour
• (pikuls) Employed Productivity
• Pikuls/Man
• __________________________________________________
  _____________
• Trawlers 4,711,358 26,960-37,744 125 175
• Purse seine 2,102,607 20,900 73,150 29 100
• Lift net 172,079 6,270 7,315 24 28
• Drift and Gill net 520,829 31,472 1 - 17
• __________________________________________________
  _____________
• Source Department of Fisheries, Annual
  Fisheries Statistics,1978

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PURSE SEINE

• Needs larger capital investment- maintenance and
  operating costs.
• New equipments were purchased by new class of
  capitalists.
• Governments Fishermans Cooperative Credit and
  Marketing Societies were also help fishermen
  during 1957.

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• Wider disparity in earning contributes to this
  differentiation.
• Juruselam and crew now merely an employee. They
  get only wages.
• There were also changed the system of marketing,
  from fishing expert to fish dealer.

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TRAWLERS

• Highest capitalization.
• Fish dealers played as main suppliers of
  long-term investment capital and fishes supply.
• Alternative source of capital is from finance
  companies
• Finance companies take half of the catch until
  both depreciation and interest are repaid
• Trawler boats dont need skilled function
  juruselam. Taikong or captain is responsible for
  navigating and operating the equipment, helped by
  an engineman, a net man and 2 to 5 crews.

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• Method of payment division of total cash value
  of the catch
• - If the catch doesnt satisfy minimum
  wage amount
• - If the catch is bad net man and
  captain take the blame
• Trawlers registered with Government Cooperatives
• Impersonality and center profit concept

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CHANGES IN DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME - VILLAGE
DATA
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• The tendency towards wealth concentration over
  time has had effect of differentiating the
  community and increasing the income gap between
  the resulting economic classes.

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LIFT NET FISHING

• The economic classes in a non mechanized lift,
  gill, drift net dominated society are the fish
  dealer, the fishing expert, the fish carrier, the
  crew and the unemployed surplus labor
• Before the lift net was the dominant technology
  which is mostly owned by the fish dealer and
  fishing expert, the fisherman used hand-lines,
  cash-push nets, bags and barrier net and a
  shellfish net because it is inexpensive.

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• But the effect of the introduction of lift net,
  it is worsening the distribution of income and
  creating some dependence on outside capital
  resources among fisherman.
• With the introduction of lift nets fishing about
  40 of the fisherman are without boats or nets.
  However, the proportion of individual who still
  own a part of the means of production is still
  high about 60 percent and the ownership of the
  boats is about 33 percent.

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• The general principles governing the distribution
  of earning are discernible. The total cash value
  of catch is divided among those who provide the
  fish lures, the carrier, the fishing experts and
  the crew.
• The relative earning which normally allocated to
  running costs is 10. The allocation to capital
  (nets and boats) and entrepreneurial skills is
  about 27. The crew and labor get about 63 of
  the cash proceeds.

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THE PURSE SEINE FISHING

• Chinese finance companies and both Malay and
  Chinese fish dealers became the dominant economic
  class.
• Fish dealers (towkay) took over the ownership of
  fishing equipment and employed the fishing expert
  as technical manager or foreman.

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• Fish dealers acquired interest in the boat to
  ensure a ready supply of fishthis make the
  carrier lost their function.
• In 1940, 0.7 of the fisherman had capital
  investment in fishing equipment worth more than
  1000maximum investment was 1100 The total
  investment in the new purse seine equipment was
  around the range of 30,000 to 40,000

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TRAWLER FISHING

• The introduction of trawling further accentuated
  the unequal's distribution of income.
• It was introduced because it was more productive
  facilitated offshore fishing.
• The problem expensive in terms of initial
  capital investment maintenance.
• The villagers cannot effort the expenses
• Financing source were from Chinese industrialists
  merchants and the government.

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• In 1970s, 62 of all fishery households had
  boats which is smaller percentage for large
  motorized trawl boats due to large cost.
• Effect of the infusion of the new trawler tech
  outside ownership
• - displacement of some of the indigenous
• capitalist fish-cum-rice dealers.
• - displacement of the skilled divers
  (juruselam).
• - less workers employed.
• - new economic roles.

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DISTRIBUTION OF GAINS NATIONAL DATA

• 1960 89 of gear was labour intensive.
• 1975 less than 60 of gear was labour
  intensive.
• Total number of fisherman employee fell by 7.1
• Those who used labour intensive technique were
  too poor to purchase the new gear even with the
  government subsidy of 80.The new equipment were
  largely invested by people from the urban areas
  and educated youths without jobs.

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• Fishing grounds that are not visited by trawlers
  or purse seines are crowded with the fisherman
  who cannot compete with the trawlers and purse
  seines.
• Although new jobs have been open for those able
  to handle the new equipments, it cannot outweigh
  the negative employment effect.
• In 1975, the total income generated was more than
  100 declined by more than 17.23 over the period
  of 1960 1975.

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• Percentage earning between 100 - 200 increased
  largely due to inflation. The large increase was
  largely due to the introduction of the trawler
  and the displacement of less efficient gear.
• Another positive effect is that the percentage of
  those earning more than 500 per month increased
  dramatically from 0 in 1960 to 6.48.

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CONCLUSIONS
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• Incessant technological changes in the fishing
  economy during the period of this study has
  caused the total output of fish to increase over
  time and the total labour employed to decline
  over time.
• The more modern technology such as the purse
  seine and trawlers are more capital intensive and
  employee relatively more capital per fishing trip
  and relatively less labour.

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• However, these cause unemployment because not all
  fisherman and their crew can be absorbed by the
  more capital intensive technologies.
• The unemployed fisherman and crew have been
  forced to migrate to more remote fishing villages
  or change their occupations.
• Total and average income in the fishing economy
  has increased over time. The number of fisherman
  and crew earning less than 100 in the real terms
  has also decline over the same period. However,
  income have become more unequally distributed
  over time.

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• The end..

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