The government is prepared to consider a proposal by the majority of operators of deepsea fishing vessels to reduce their price of subsidised diesel from RM1.80 to RM1.50 a litre, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Noh Omar said.

The suggestion was forwarded to him by the operators at a meeting in Putrajaya today, where they also agreed to the abolition of the incentive payment for fish catch.

fishing trawlers 231216 fish catch "The suggestions and views will be taken into consideration and will be tabled at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday for approval," Noh told reporters after the meeting with almost 300 deepsea fishing boat operators and representatives of inshore fishermen's associations.

The government abolished the super diesel subsidy for deepsea fishermen on June 1, requiring them to purchase diesel at RM1.80 instead of RM1.25. However, the fish catch incentive was doubled to 20sen a kilo.

The adjustment of the subsidies caused certain quarters to carry out a strike but the operators of more than 800 vessels had gone back to their normal fishing activities, Noh said.

He said two conditions would be imposed on deepsea fishing operators if the

suggestion was approved by the Cabinet.

One was an audit of their boats to ensure that they were in the 'green' category, meaning meeting all the conditions imposed by the ministry.

The other is that the landing of fish must be verified by officers from the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM).

Noh said that so far 1,502 deepsea fishing boats had been audited and 625 were found to be in the 'green' category.

Some 215 were in the 'yellow' or unsatisfactory category and would be monitored for six months but were still eligible for the diesel subsidy, he said.

A total of 306 were in the 'orange' category and disallowed the diesel subsidy until they remedied their weaknesses while 356 were in the 'red' category and would have their licences revoked, he added.

- Bernama