More than 50 Johor fishermen staged a protest against Singapore's controversial land reclamation activities and are demanding compensation for loss of income, police said today.

Eleven fishing boats surrounded several sand barges and dredges involved in the reclamation in the sea off Johor, a state marine police spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The sand is used as landfill for Singapore's land reclamation project in the narrow Tebrau Strait between the two countries.

The fishermen, who launched the protest early Wednesday, complained that the dredging activities had affected their daily fish haul resulting in losses of more than RM30,000 each since last month.

"They staged a peaceful protest because the dredges have scared away all the fish from the coastal areas," the official said.

He said the fishermen dispersed peacefully after getting an opportunity to air their grouses to Malaysian marine authorities.

"They want the ships to operate farther out in the sea and not at the coastal waters," he said, adding that some of the sand barges were owned by foreign companies.

"They used to get six to seven kilo's of fish, but for the past few months, it has dropped so much that many times, they find only about a dozen fishes in their nets.

"They want to get some form of compensation because their source of income has been affected."

Fresh strain

State chief minister Abdul Ghani Othman was quoted by the Berita Harian Malay language daily as saying the government would look into the fishermen's claims.

Singapore's land reclamation activities had put a fresh strain on ties with Malaysia, which has said the project could obstruct ships headed for ports in Johor, which are being promoted to rival Singapore's port.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said the land reclamation affected the environment, the livelihood of local fishermen and the maritime border.

Ties between the neighbours have been erratic since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian Federation to become an independent state in 1965.

Water supplies from Malaysia to Singapore, a proposed bridge linking the countries and the use of Malaysian airspace by Singaporean aircraft are among other points of contention.