Soon only local fishermen will be allowed to go deep-sea fishing in Malaysian waters.

To ensure that, the government will stop renewing deep-sea fishing licences to foreign fishermen from next year.

The government wants to encourage local fishermen to venture into deep sea in order to multiply their catch, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim.

And to assist these local fishermen, a RM400 million Integrated Deep-sea Fishing Port is being developed in Tanjung Manis, Sarawak.

Once completed by the end of the year, the port, which is the first of its kind in Malaysia, will play a big role in developing the deep-sea fishing industry and fish-based products processing business in the country.

Rohani said that local fishermen must make full use of the port and its facilities.

"I don't want the deep-sea fishing port to become a white elephant. We've spent a big sum of money and I want it to succeed.

"I want to see only local fishermen and local fishing boats to be involved in deep-sea fishing," she was quoted as saying by Bernama today.

The move to encourage deep-sea fishing is part of the larger government agenda to revive and sustain the agricultural and agro-based industries in the country.

Guarding the coastline

Meanwhile, in another development, the Customs Department said that it will spend about RM80 million to expand its marine unit.

The money will be used to buy, among others, four high-speed and five normal patrol craft.

According to Bernama , Customs Director-General Abdul Rahman Hamid said the high-speed boats, which can do speeds of up to 60 knots, have been tested in Hong Kong and that their presence will help speed up the department's response time to counter smuggling activities.

"These boats are also equipped with sophisticated equipment that will help us do our tasks better," he said.

He also added that smuggling activities along the nation's coastline was under control at present.