Kota Kinabalu: In line with the Sabah’ Blue Economy under the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan, aquaculture is one of different approaches that emphasizes on job and development without compromising the ocean.
And as one of the industry players that have tapped into field, the practise of sustainable aquaculture can play an even bigger role in Sabah’s Blue Economy, provided it continues improving its environmental practises and supply chain stability.
As one of the players that have tapped into the industry, Sankina Aquaculture says sustainable aquaculture can play a bigger role in Sabah’s blue economy, provided the industry continues improving its environmental practices and supply chain stability.
Its Managing Director Jenny Ou shared the company’s experience at the Sabah Asia – Pacific Impact Investing for Investing for Sustainable Development Summit 2026.
Operating since 2010, Ou said that the company, shrimp farm has been running for 16 years but suffered a complete disease wipeout that affected the entire coastline in the first three years, forcing it operations to halt for a year.
Despite the adversary faced, she said they have established a team that explored nature-based solutions to rebuild the farm which resulted in a solid establishment that has remained disease-resilient for more than 12 years.
By opting for a nature-based solution, she also said that it was the best approach to solve their existing woes by stabilizing the situation while at the same time emphasizing on environmental preservation and restoration.
“We have had been hit by disease on the third year of operation and it had a complete wipeout. The whole coastal line failed, and we had to break cycle for a year.
“So, during that time, we were looking at solutions, on methods to rebuild the farm. And we took a year to slowly figure that out and we approach it with the nature-based solutions.
“So fast forward to 16 years after we’re still running the farm and have restored the surrounding of our farm near the coastline as our reservoir and that is where our mangroves. And that’s where our mangroves rehabilitation program takes place” she added.
The farm is in Tawau, which provides jobs for locals while at the same time highlights the importance of environmental restoration or preservation as it is vital to have a natural habitat surrounding the farm, that acts as contributing to ensure aquaculture operations progress with positive results.
This highlights the importance of having a “healthy” environment that directly influences the performance of an aquaculture farm.
As the first shrimp farm in Malaysia to acquire the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, Ou said her organization has been working closely with other relevant agencies or department to ensure that their practices maintained environmentally friendly – fulfilling the definition of blue economy.
The ASC farm standards set responsible practices for global seafood farming which impact-based sustainability requirements cover animal welfare, farm management, human rights and environmental stewardship for fish, farm, people and the planet.
As part of the blue economy, Ou said the mangrove rehabilitation programme is an initiative that began after several plots of abandoned shrimp farms were purchased back in 2010 on a land that was degrading by erosion – making its boundaries unclear along the coastline.
She said over 15 years, the area has regenerated into somewhat a “solidified” piece of land due to the mangrove rehabilitation programme that has helped stabilise the shoreline and restoring the natural habitat.
“Mangrove rehabilitation area lies in about 9 hectares of land that we have recouped in an initiative that we are very proud of.
“We didn’t know where our (land boundaries are) because of the erosion, and we’re losing land. (From this issue) the mangrove rehabilitation program (helped us) to define that land piece,” she added.
As part of the rehabilitation programme, some 300 mangrove trees were planted along the farm’s coastline which is an initiative carried out alongside the Forestry Department, Fisheries Department and World Wild Fund (WWF) for Nature Malaysia.
As an experienced and certified shrimp farming operator, Ou also shared that aquaculture demand is rising and as per the United Nation’s (UN) projections, 60 per cent of seafood will come from aquaculture by 2030.
Despite this attracting demand, to operate a shrimp farm is no walk in the park as there are several challenges that one will experience not only in terms of managing diseases but also market volatility which leads to limited economic returns.
While sustainable practices bring environmental benefits, she said the economic returns are still limited in which farmers face volatile prices, lack of local feed mills and competition from countries with lower production costs.
However, she said this does not mean that sustainable practices should be neglected but instead used as an advantage to build trust for investors into Sabah so aquaculture farming would be widely considered and supported as such industry is closely in-line with the blue economy initiatives.
“Through sustainable practices, I think we can deal with a lot of that risk that we see in aquaculture farming.
“And hopefully with sustainability we are able to build trust with buyers, we build trust with partners, as well as the mindful impact investors,” she added.
The company’s experience shows that commercial aquaculture can coexist with natural ecosystems, contributing to Sabah’s broader blue economy goals and it believes that with stronger branding, better supply chain support and continued environmental commitment, Sabah can strengthen its position in sustainable seafood production.
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