SUNSHINE STORIES

Posted by: Robecca Jumin Our training on Ecosystem Based Management for Fisheries (EBMF) continues. We conducted the second training on the 5th and 6th October 2009. The second workshop was conducted at the Kudat Golf and Marina Resort and targeted the commercial fishers, both fish boat owners and the fish boat crews. The main objectives of this second workshop was i) to continue raising awareness on EBMF, ii) to advocate adoption of EBMF principles in fisheries management in the proposed Tun Mustapha Park , and iii) to demonstrate the role of commercial fishers in fisheries management (through data collection such as deck sampling) The training workshop was held in collaboration with other partners, Sabah Parks as the mandated agency leading the process to establish TMP, Sabah Fisheries Department as the managing agency for the fisheries sector in Sabah and PPKNK as the association representing commercial fishing boatowners in Kudat. Financial support was provided by MENGO...

Posted By: Robecca Jumin How do you make something quite technical like the Ecosystem Based Management for Fisheries (EBMF) interesting and easy to understand? We tried it by combining it with other more practical and interactive training such as SCUBA Diving. The Malaysian Non-Governmental Organization (MENGO) group provided some fund for us to develop training material and conduct training to the commercial fishers of the proposed Tun Mustapha Park (TMP). We conducted the combined training on the 10-14 August 2009, with 5 participants from the Persatuan Pemilik Kapal Nelayan Kudat (PPKNK), and 1 participant from the local community. The combined training tried to merge both theories on EBMF at the same time trained them to be divers. We were hoping that through the diving experience the participants were able to understand and appreciate more what is ecosystem. Learning EBMF in class What is Ecosystem based management? There is a few terms that more or less have similar meaning but ...

Posted by: Robecca Jumin Saturday, 8th August 2009. In the past two days, we hosted a visit from the newly created Environment and Conservation Unit of the Sabah Fisheries Department. We felt very privileged to host the visit of the full team of the unit that also happen to handle the SSME Tri-National Programme in Sabah, of which our project is closely affiliated. On the first day, bad weather threatened to completely ruin our plan to bring our guests to the many places within the proposed Tun Mustapha Park (TMP) that we thought would be a ‘must visit site’. But ‘good’ weather prevailed - the rain stopped and the wind subsided enough to allow us to visit at least two of the 4 sites we planned to visit. The visit to Kg. Berungus, Pitas and Karakit, Banggi was worth the rough boat ride across Banggi Channel and the perilous short cross over a fishing vessel and fish cages to get to dry land in lieu of a proper jetty. The discussions the next day was equally rewarding and enlightening f...