Johor to encourage mussel farming
Published on: Saturday, March 28, 2015
Johor: Mussel breeders in Johor will receive financial assistance from the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry to further revive the mussels farming activities.Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the mussel productivity level in the state had declined over the years from 20,000 tonnes in 2000 to 2,100 tonnes in 2014."It is an alarming sign and something must be done fast to help the breeders or else they will be out of job soon," he told reporters after a meeting session with fishermen and breeders.
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Ismail Sabri said Johor remained the main producer of mussel in the country contributing about 90pc of the total production level although the figure was on a downward trend.He attributed the decline to vast development taking place especially in areas around Straits of Tebrau which resulted the diminishing of natural breeding grounds for mussels."We have received about RM45mil budget to assist farmers and breeders this year and part of it will be given to Johor mussel breeders," said Ismail Sabri.He said presently there were 125 mussel breeders in Johor of which 10 of them co-owned a mussel farm made up of one 130 metres line to breed mussels in the wild in the seawater.
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Ismail Sabri that said the line was able to produce 10 tonnes of mussels between seven and nine months and generating revenue around RM20,000 and the income was minimal as it had to be divided among them."Under the smart-farming scheme for them, we want each of them to manage their own line; hence generating good income instead of having to split it like now," he said.
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