Brunei Darussalam is located in the northwestern
part of Borneo. It has a land area of 5,765 sq.km. and 130 km
long coastline fronting the South China Sea. The total marine
territorial area is estimated at about 38,600 sq.km. covering
the Brunei Fisheries Limits with the potential resources at
MEY (Maximum Economic Yield) of about 21,300 mt. The physical
features of the Brunei Darussalam’s water are partly continental
shelves, having the total area of about 8,600 sq.km. For the
purpose of fisheries management, the fishing area is divided
into four zones as shown in Figure 1.
Figure1. The fishing area and fishing zonation of Brunei Darussalam’s
waters.
In the global development of the capture fisheries,
the quality of fishing gears and methods is an important factor
especially in the exploitation of the marine fisheries resources
and its impact on the marine environment. In Brunei Darussalam,
capture fishery is still on its developmental stage but is wary
of the experiences of the neighboring Asian countries. Its current
posture is learning from the lessons of other countries that
are now having problems on overexploitation and depletion of
fish stocks that is mainly due to uncontrolled and destructive
fishing methods and gears.
The work described here is a result of a team effort of the
staffs of the Department of Fisheries to provide a technical
description of the existing fishing gears and methods in use
in Brunei Darussalam as well as the technical inputs and assistance
from the Training Department of SEAFDEC . It is aimed in improving
the catch by modifying the gear. However, before any modification
is made, a technical assessment of the existing gears and methods
must be done and this is the primary objective of this report.
CAPTURE FISHERIES IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Fisheries sector plays an important role in the
economy of the country. The fisheries of Brunei Darussalam contributes
about 0.2% in the GDP and is targeting a greater contribution
by optimizing its annual potential yield of about 21,300 mt
with the value of B$ 112 millions. Presently, fish remains the
main source of animal protein for the people of Brunei Darussalam.
One of the highest worldwide, per capita consumption of fish
in 2004 was estimated at about 47 kg/yr. It is estimated that
the fish consumption during 2004 is about 16,931 mt of which
most are fresh fish. This section presents brief overview of
the status of the capture fisheries of Brunei Darussalam, covering
the resources and its characteristics as well as its management
that are necessary towards goal of sustainable development of
fisheries.
STATUS OF MARINE CAPTURE FISHERIES
Figure 2 shows: The total annual production from both the commercial
and small-scale fisheries of Brunei Darussalam from 1999 to
2005.
Figure 2. Annual trend in the total fish production from both
the small-scale and commercial scale fisheries sectors.
The total production of capture fisheries had
increased from 9,620mt in 1999 to 16,069 in 2005 of which about
70% of the total production is contributed by the small scale
fisheries.
COMMERCIAL-SCALE FISHERIES
About 30% of the total production is contributed by the commercial
fisheries sector that comprise the trawlers, purse seiners and
long liners operating mainly in zone 2 and 3 of Brunei Fisheries
Limits. The scenario of declining resource most especially in
the nearshore areas is clearly shown in the performance of the
trawlers. Table 1 presents the annual production from the major
commercial fishing boats of Brunei Darussalam as well as the
annual increase in the number of fishing boat units
Other industrial fishing boats including commercial longlines
(bottom set and the purse that re-started operating in 2001
and has minimal contribution to the total production.
Table 1. Marine fisheries production and number of units from
among the commercial sector from 1990 to 2005
Conversely, the pelagic fishing using purse seine
contributed only about 1,235 mt in 2005 that is way below the
expected MSY of about 7,000 metric tons per year. This means
that the potential increase in the capture fisheries production
relies on the development of the pelagic fishing especially
in zones 3 and 4.
SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES
In general, the marine capture fisheries have continuously provided
more or less of 50% of the country’s supply of fish for
over 20 years. And in recent years, a significant chunk in the
local fish production of about 70% or about 12,329 mt (in 2004)
is contributed by the small-scale fisheries sector. Majority
of the fishermen in this sector are operating in zone 1, fishing
area of within 3 nm from the shore. They use outboard engines
to reach the fishing destination and operate the small-scale
fishing gears such as trammel nets, hooks and lines, pots to
name a few. Some had modernized their fishing techniques using
electronics device such as the application of GPS, echo sounder
as well as the fish finder.
The estimated MSY among the small-scale fisheries sector is
only about 6,400 mt (for both demersal and pelagic resources)
with 98% from the demersal resources.
The demersal fish production level in 1999 and
2005 (for both small-scale and commercial sectors) has increased
but exceeded the MSY limit thus causing a decline in fish production
in 2005 due to excessive fishing effort (in terms of fishing
days).
But despite the excess in fish production over MSY among major
small-scale fishing gears, there is a general decline in the
aggregate CPUE within the past 5 years or so that might be an
indication of overfishing.
The level of the fish production among small-scale fishing gears
exceeded the MSY level from 2000 to 2004 ranging from 5,083
mt to 12,239 mt as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Fish production of small scale fishermen using the
small-scale fishing gears
Consequently, a significant decrease in the catch
per unit effort (CPUE) of the major small-scale fishing gears
was noted. It means an increase in the number and units of fishing
efforts (i.e., number of gears and fishermen and days) assuming
catch is set constant and/or a drop in the catch compared to
the earlier years. Figure 3 (1-4) shows the CPUE trend of major
small-scale fishing gears in Brunei Darussalam.
Figure 4. CPUE trend of major small-scale fishing gears
(1) Ancau
.jpg)
(2) Andang jaran
.jpg)
(3) Kilong
.jpg)
(4) Tugu
Likewise, the number of small-scale fishermen has increased
from 2,070 people in 2000 to 4,810 people in 2004 is as shown
in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Annual change in the number of fishermen.
Table 2. Number of small-scale fishing gears and
estimated MSY.
Based on the CPUE analysis conducted in 2004, the Department
found that about 12 small-scale fishing gears as shown in Table
2 have exceeded the maximum efforts (units). This includes the
following types of gears:
• Ancau (ring net)
• Andang karan (trammel gill net)
• Andang jarang (bottom-set gill net)
• Bubu (fish pot)
• Kabat (barrier net).
• Jaul/pancing (hand lines)
• Pukat kembura (Surface gill-net)
• Kilong (fish coral for deeper water)
• Lintau (fish coral)
• Rambat (cast net)
• Rantau (drift gill net)
• Tugu (tidal weir)
Among the small-scale fishing gears, Jaul (hand lines) and Andang
jarang (bottom-set gill net) yielded the highest contribution
to the total production and MSY level among the small-scale
fisheries sector. Overall, the aggregate MSY contribution of
the small-scale fisheries sector is more than 6,400 mt based
on the estimates using the fish production models.
MANAGEMENT OF MARINE CAPTURE FISHERIES
The goal of marine capture fisheries in Brunei
Darussalam is to develop the marine fisheries towards the maximum
economic yield. This goal is to be achieved through the formulation
and implementation of the management strategies to increase
the productivity, resource sustainability and equal share among
the fishers. In general the objectives of the management are:
-
- To fully exploit the marine resources up to
21,300 mt at sustainable level;
- To protect the nursery and breeding grounds through the establishment
of marine protected areas;
- To promote equal sharing of marine resources between the small-scale
and the commercial fisheries sectors;
- To promote the usage of selective fishing gears and environmentally
friendly gears to minimize the wastage of under-sized fish;
and
- To increase the marine resource productivity through resource
enhancement programs.
Currently, some measures to mitigate the decline
in the production and losses to trawl operation are being undertaken
by the Department of Fisheries. These includes the limited number
of licenses to the trawl fishery, mesh size regulations, zonation
for fishing grounds and encouraging the trawlers to shift to
pelagics fishing such as purse seine and long line operation.
On top of that, the law enforcement capabilities of the Department
have been strengthen in preventing the exploitation of the resources
from illegal fishing.
