Socio-Economic and Livelihood Assessment of Inland Fishermen in Muda River Basin

Location and geography of the Muda River Basin

The catchment of the Muda river basin in the northwest of Peninsular Malaysia covers about 4210 km ² and is the largest river system in the northern region (Figure 01 ). The Muda river basin covers six districts (Baling, Padang Terap Kuala Muda, Baling, Sik and Kulim) and 28 mukims (parishes) and has the length of 180 km ( Julien et al., 2006; Ghani et al., 2010). The Muda river rises from the northern mountainous area of Kedah and then flows 30 km river downstream to form an inter-state boundary between Kedah and Penang and is considered a vital water catchment as well as natural resource area providing timber, fisheries, forest products and natural heritage conservation ( Chuah et al., 2011; Sah et al., 2012).  The network of Muda river basin is formed from Ketil River, Tembus River, Chepir River, Teliang River, Endin River, Sedim River, Sik River, Baho River, Sungai Legong River, Sungai Telui River, Sungai Beris River dan Jenin River ( Daud & Safiei, 2018). Ketil River (868 km), Sedim River (626 km), and Chepir River (335 km) are the three main tributaries of Muda River system. Muda Dam, Pedu Dam, Ahning Dam, and Beris Dam are four major dams within Muda River Basin ( Lee, 2009; Ghani, 2010; Sim et al., 2018). Muda River is one of the most important water resources for agriculture and water supply for Kedah and Penang ( Lee et al., 2013).

See Full Size >

Department of Fisheries in Kedah reported that there are 172 villagers involved in inland fisheries all year round that cover the district of: Kuala Muda – Yan (60 persons), Sik (50 persons), Kulim (30 persons) and Baling (32 persons).

Data collection

The sample survey was carried out from November 2018 till March 2019. The sample survey (questionnaires and interview) aimed to obtain socio-economic information on household income and livelihood, fishing operations, and other activities related to inland fisheries. For the sample survey, 46 fishermen of the total of 172 inland fishermen in Muda river basin were randomly selected, and by the suggestions of the Department of Fisheries and by village leaders.

Data Analysis

Data were coded and analysed using SPSS and Excel. The survey teams collaborate with the Department of Fisheries of Kedah and District Fisheries Office (PPD) of Kuala Muda, Sik, Kulim and Baling who arrange the interview schedule with the inland fishermen.

Profile of respondents

Inland fishermen in Muda river basin is divided into two categories (Table 01 ):

• Category A: full-time fishermen, subsidy recipient and non-subsidy recipient

• Category B: Part-time or seasonal basis

Most of the respondents (58.7%) were aged between 41-60 years, while a small number (19.6%) were aged between 61-80 years. Most of the respondents (23.9%) had between 11 to 20 years of experience, 26.1 % had between 21 to 30 years of experience, 23.9 % had between 31 to 40 years of experience, 17.4% had between one to nine years of experience. Only a small percentage (8.7%) had more than 40 years of experience.

The inland fishermen in Muda river basin comprised of inland fishermen from Kampung Titi Merdeka (Kuala Muda district), Muda dam, Gubir (Sik district), Kampung Ujung Padang, Sidam Kanan (Kulim district) dan Kampung Kuala Lesung, Kuala Ketil (Baling district). The location of the study area is further divided into 3 groups such as:

• Upstream: Kampung Kuala Lesung (Baling district)

• Mid-stream of Muda river basin: Muda dam, Gubir (Sik district) dan Kampung Ujung Padang (Kulim district)

• Downstream of Muda river basin: Kampung Titi Merdeka (Kuala Muda district)

Overall, however, the majority (more than 70 %) of the interviewed fishermen say they were not satisfied with the subsidy provided by the authorities as it was not adequate. Nevertheless, the fishermen were grateful to the authorities for the subsidies but suggested that the authorities should help them better in aquaculture of fisheries in the Muda lake, provide technical training for them and provide/rent boats and other fishing equipment to them.

Educational Level of Inland Fishermen

The majority (91.3%) of the inland fishermen surveyed received formal education whereas, about 8.7% of the respondents did not receive any formal schooling. This shows that that literacy rates among the fishermen population in Muda river basin is high (91.3%) and the highest-level education in the communities is Form 6 or Diploma.

Household expenditure of fishermen in Muda river basin

The total household expenditure of fishermen at Muda river basin was RM895.32 per month, which included food, rental, vehicle instalments, school expenses, utilities, cigarettes and other expenses. Based on the analysis, food component was the highest expenditure at RM516.51, followed by others (RM516.25), rental makes up of RM266.67, school expenditure for their children was accounted at RM243.11, vehicle instalment (RM165.00), cigarettes (RM101 .60) and utilities (RM99.51) as shown in Table 02 .

Fisherman's income is calculated according to the cash or revenue distribution system. Head of Household Income (KIR) income is calculated and categorised according to the government-defined poverty level, as shown in Table 03 . For this study, the Poverty Line (PLI) 2014 was used as the basis for analysing land fisherman poverty level (if applicable).

According to Mustapa et al. ( 2018), poverty in Malaysia is based on the PLI, poverty line income (Malaysian absolute poverty line), which is a quantitative money metric measure. In Peninsular Malaysia, PLI for the poor in the rural area is RM870, whereas PLI for hard-core poor is RM 580 (Table 03 ). When the households in a city area with a gross monthly income at RM940 and RM580 in Peninsular Malaysia are poor and hard-core poor, respectively. It is therefore concluded that all the fishermen in the survey obtained income below the national average, and most of them close to or below the poverty line. So, if the objective of the authorities is to alleviate poverty and bring fishermen out of poverty, they should do much more to help the fishermen of the Muda river basin.

Lists of species caught in Muda river basin

Based on the interviews with the respondents, the Muda river basin system demonstrates a high level of overall biodiversity 18 types of species representing nine families are found in the catch (Table 04 ). The nine families are Cyprinidae, Palaemonidae, Bagridae, Butidae, Osphronemidae, Cichlidae, Pangasiidae, Pristolepididae, Notopteridae. From the catch composition; it shows that Tilapia make up of 28.3% of the catch, Lampan Sungai only accounted for 21.7%, Udang galah and baung sungai (15.2% respectively). Patin contributes only 6.5 % of the catch whereas Lampan Jawa representing 4.3% of the catch. Ketutu and Lampan only represent about 2.2 % catch respectively. These findings are more or less similar to the findings of Lee et al. ( 2013).

The data gathered from catch data showed that ikan Baung sungai, Lampam Jawa, Lampam sungai dan Pucuk pisang are the species of fish that are regularly caught by the fishermen in Muda river basin. The high species diversity and evenness are mostly found in the mid-stream of Muda river basin which covers the area from Muda dam, Gubir, Sik, Kg Ujung Panjang and Kulim). Most fisherman in Muda river basin does not depend solely on fishing for their livelihood.

Discussion and Analysis

The results of this study identified that inland fisheries in the Muda River Basin are a valuable economic resource of the rural people living in and around the Muda Lake region. Results show that a substantial percentage of the population is involved with fishing in the lake and the rivers in the study area. Most of the fishermen, however, have other sources of income as the income from fishing is not enough to sustain their families. In order for them to survive on just fishing, their livelihood must be improved with outside help, preferably from the government or the private sector or NGOs.

Based on the in-depth qualitative interviews with the fishermen, it was found that the main strength of fisheries in the Muda lake and river area was the large water bodies that are teeming with fishes, the high biodiversity of many species of fishes, the good weather and hydrology of the area, and the accessibility of the fishing grounds to the fishermen’s villages. The weaknesses, however, include the use destructive fishing gears such as small-meshed nets, electric shocks and poisoning at the headwater of the Muda river basin such as at Ulu Muda dam, Gubir, Sik and Kampung Ujung Padang. River pollution at Kampung Kuala Lesung, Baling and illegal dumpsite of a 1.4-hectare plot of land in Kampung Kemumbong, Sidam Kiri, near Sungai Petani also contributed to the cause of the decline of the fish stocks in Muda river basin. Another factor contributing to habitat destruction of the fishes is from the extensive pollution from palm oil plantation at Padang Serai. The Program Sukarelawan Perikanan (SUPER) is a co-management program between the fishing communities and the Department of Fisheries to prevent the illegal fishing methods that contribute to the degradation of fish ecosystems in Muda river basin.

In order to improve the livelihood of the fishermen, Mukim Sidam Kanan Inland Fishermen Association recognise that needs to have aquaculture sectors as an entry point of improving the livelihood of fishermen communities in Sidam Kanan. Aquaculture provides job opportunities to the fishermen communities in the rural area ranging from supplying to processing and marketing the fish products. Mukim Sidam Kanan Inland Fishermen Association pays particular attention to address the marketing opportunities for the fishes caught from Muda river basin. Most inland fishers not able to sell their products easily due to poor mechanisms of processing, packaging, marketing and lack of storage equipment. With proper marketing of the inland fisheries products, fishermen can sell their products to consumers in good condition and at the same time, it will reduce the wastage, damage and loss of the seafood products.

But the little is known about the poverty level of the fisherman who is dependent on this river for their livelihood, especially when there is no fish in the river. There has been no work done in the study area on the livelihood of the fisherman.