Nurturing Tomorrow's Aquaculture Farmers

In light of recent pandemic that has enveloped nations worldwide in a crisis, the issue of food security has given rise to an industry that has been around for centuries and is now back to being a sunrise industry.

The aquaculture industry, a growing but thriving segment of the agriculture industry faced a severe impact during the early months of the pandemic. But with growing assistance and research, aquaculture farmers are slowly coming back on track amidst the rising demand for marine products.

The Malaysian Government has always played an active role in encouraging Malaysian fishermen to venture into aquaculture due to the significant drop in captured aquatic cultures amid the increasing demand for marine products.

Data shows that the country’s main marine commodity includes fresh and processed fish (freshwater fish 102,596.84 metric tonnes worth RM728 million), marine fish/prawn 121,460.24 metric tonnes worth RM2.268 million), seaweed products (202,965.58 metric tonnes worth RM44.7 million) and ornamental fish (281 million pieces worth RM283 million).

The demand is further reflected as Malaysia’s marine shrimp aquaculture accounted for 24.8 per cent of Malaysia’s aquaculture production volume and 41.3 per cent of its production value in 2019.

The local marine shrimp production aquaculture market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 11.9 per cent, from RM1.13 billion in 2020 to RM1.99 billion in 2025.