The document summarizes the poverty and vulnerabilities faced by fishermen on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and discusses the potential for community social enterprises to help address these issues. Specifically: 1) Small coastal fishermen are the most vulnerable, facing issues like encroachment from large trawlers and marginalization in obtaining necessary permits. 2) Existing fishermen's associations and cooperatives have been limited in mitigating these vulnerabilities. They primarily help fishermen obtain subsidies but have not fully utilized their potential. 3) A community social enterprise run by fishermen's cooperatives could help by directly purchasing catches, remodeling retail shops, and generating benefits for members. This moves beyond the traditional cooperative model

1. Poverty and Vulnerability of Fishermen in the East
Coast of Peninsular Malaysia and
Potential for a Community Social Enterprise
Mohd Shukri Hajinoor
COMMACT Malaysia
and
Faculty of Economics and Management
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
March 4, 2012
Presentation at the COMMACT International Conference on “New
directions and connections for the soladirity economy and people-
centred development, 1-4 March 2012, Kochi, Kerala, India

2. Outline of presentation
1. Concept of poverty & vulnerability
2. Why fishermen?
3. What type of fishermen are vulnerable?
4. What kind of vulnerabilities?
5. Sources of vulnerabilities
6. Reducing, mitigating, coping
7. Potential for a community social enterprise
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3. Concept of poverty & vulnerability
 Poverty – a static concept (a snapshot in
time), below PL
 Insecurity & vulnerability are dynamic; they
describe the response to changes over time
 Insecurity – exposure to risk
 Vulnerability – the resulting possibility of a
decline in wellbeing
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4. Vulnerability is a function of
1) household’s asset endowment
2) insurance mechanisms (informal and/or
formal)
3) characteristics (severity, frequency) of the
shock
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5. Why fishermen?
 Among the poorest in Malaysia
 Switching between chicken and fish
 In 1970s, fish was the people’s food, chicken was a
luxury
 Since early 1990s, fish has become food of the rich, in
turn, chicken is the people’s food
 It means, fish is relatively more expensive than chicken
 Yet most fishermen remains poor
 No NGO has dealt specifically with poor fishermen
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6. Which fishermen are vulnerable?
 “Vulnerability” depends on whom we ask:
• Small (coastal) fishermen
• Medium size
• Large scale (deep sea) enterprise
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7. Types of vulnerabilities
 Depends on where we ask (along the east coast)
• In Kelantan state (bordering with Thailand):
encroachment by Thai fishermen
• In Terengganu, Pahang, eastern Johor: Marine
Park Act prohibiting fishing near islands
(where most fish are)
 But what is common among them:
• Vulnerabilities caused by TRAWLERS
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8. 8

9. Picture of a fish trawler
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10. Small or coastal fishermen are the
most vulnerable
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11. 11

12. 12

13. Types of vulnerabilities
• Income
• Health
• Erosion due to strong waves (January 2012)
• Others
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14. Process of vulnerability of fishermen
Fishermen are socio-economically vulnerable due to external as well as
internal factors to them
Global / Regional
Forces
Institutional factors
Breakdowns in social
Lack of assets capital
and other skills Vulnerable
Fishermen
Vagaries of
Illegal fishing
climate &
practices
nature
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15. Main sources of vulnerability
• Encroachment by Malaysian licensed
“chartered” foreign-owned trawlers operated
by foreign fishermen (ALIBABA)
• Encroachment by foreign-owned large boat (C
& C2)
• For small (coastal) fishermen, marginalization
(of obtaining FISHERMAN CARD) due to
politics
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16. A Thai boat (with Thai letters) using Malaysian licensed
C2 Boat, flying Kelantan flag (with dock painted in red –
required for Kelantan boats) employing Thai fishermen
landed at a non-government jetty in Tok Bali, Kelantan
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17. Even the buyer from one of the seven C or
C2 boats landed at a non-government
owned jetty in Tok Bali, Kelantan, is a Thai
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18. Lack of activities at federal government built
jetty in Tok Bali, Kelantan
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19. Bustling of activities at a private-owned jetty
in Tok Bali, Kelantan
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20. Mitigation and the roles of
Fishermen’s Associations (FA)
• Fishermen associated with FAs only to obtain papers (documents) to
apply for KAD E-NELAYAN (Fisherman’s Card) from the Fisheries
Development Authority (LKIM) (Ministry of Agriculture)
• A Fisherman’s Card enables fishermen to obtain subsidies:
1) RM200/month Living Allowance
2) Diesel at RM1.80/litre (instead of RM2.10/litre
3) RM0.10/kilogramme Catch Allowance
• Mitigating role by FAs has been limited
• Although there is the umbrella NATIONAL FA, not all AREA BRANCH
FA are up and running to the fullest potential
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21. AREA BRANCH FA attached to the LKIM
jetty in Dungun, Terengganu
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22. AREA BRANCH FA in Bachok, Kelantan
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23. Not all of fishermen’s association
programmes are up and running
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24. Idled Fishermen Group Economic Activity
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25. Potential for Community Social
Enterprise
• Existing Fishermen’s Cooperative (belonging to
AREA BRANCH FA) has been limited in scope
• Private dealers buy catches directly from large C2
boats
• AREA BRANCH FA operates small jetties only
collecting landing fees (bringing in only small
income)
 Potential for AREA BRANCH FA and its LOCAL
FISHERMEN COOP to venture into enterprises
bringing back benefits to its members
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26. Rates for landing charges at a small jetty run by
the Bachok AREA BRANCH FA
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27. No activity at the Bachok AREA
BRANCH FA Jetty except for fishermen
doing maintenance of their nets
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28. Fishermen’s shop next to the LKIM jetty in Mersing,
Johor; but it is privately run on a small scale (it does
not belong to Fishermen’s Cooperative)
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29. A tuition centre operated by an Mersing Area Branch
FA; but the facility seems abandoned. In Malaysia,
exam-oriented private tuition centres are a big business
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30. Fishermen Coop (FC) as a community social
enterprise
• Re-examine business model of FC shops
• FC must compete with fish dealers by
purchasing catches directly at all types of
jetties (government and privately-run) to
secure competitively priced supply
• Remodel and rebrand FC shops as the centre
for merchant as well as retail fish shop
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31. Overall proposals
1. Re-examine current licensing & subsidy
system affecting particularly particularly small
(coastal) and medium
2. Re-examine current system of monitoring of
subsidies
3. Re-examine current marine surveillance
enforcement
4. Social enterprise of FISHERMEN COOP that
truly benefit its members – it GOES BEYOND
COOPERATIVES
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32. “Wealth granted by God to His Prophet from the
people of many places are for God, for His
Prophet and his family, for orphans, for the poor
and for those on journey so that the wealth is
not only circulating among the riches among
you” (Al-Hasyr 59:7)
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33. TERIMA KASIH
THANK YOU
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