KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — The Sabah government is considering halting exports of crabs from its coastal towns of Tawau and Semporna as well as restricting the sale of lobsters in the state to preserve future supply.
Junz Wong, Sabah's minister for agriculture and food industry, reportedly noted that the daily export of boxes of crabs from the Tawau airport has caused difficulties in obtaining quality specimens of the shellfish in Tawau and its neighbouring town Semporna.
He said it also made average specimens expensive.
Wong reportedly said a study will be done to find a win-win solution to keep Sabah's status as a seafood haven.
“We urge all related operators and players do not worry about it as we will take all aspects for considerations in the mechanisms relating to crabs exportation before implement it,” he was quoted saying by local daily The Borneo Post.
The paper said the regular supply of crabs of good quality in both Tawau and Semporna was required to promote tourism and to turn Tawau into a future “Crab Centre”.
Wong said the Sabah state government planned to turn the two towns into seafood export hubs and to push tourism there.
In a separate report by The Borneo Post, Wong reportedly said the state government will carefully study policies on wild and farm-bred lobsters, adding that there will be a restriction on the catch of wild lobsters as there have been cases where lobsters as small as the size of a finger were not released back into the sea and were instead eaten.
“This will stunt the reproduction of local wild lobsters and we do not want a situation one day where we have no more lobsters to catch. Thus, some form of protection must be implemented and for these catchers to be closely monitored,” he was quoted saying.
He said the Sabah government will also consider banning the sale of lobsters below a certain weight for exports and for restaurants.
“Any lobsters weighing below 500 grammes will not be permitted to be sold/exported in the market, and this restriction will surely help a long way to preserve and ensure a continuous supply of lobsters in Sabah,” he added.
