Overview Of Biology And Exploitation Of The Small Pelagic Fish Resources Of The EEZ Of Sarawak, Malaysia

Pelagic fish resource (especially small pelagic fish) is the single most important fisheries resources of Sarawak Malaysia in terms of biomass. In fact, the EEZ of Sarawak has the largest biomass at 879,548 tonnes for the whole of Malaysia. However, the pelagic fish resource is the least exploited with an annual average production at 25,000 mt. The government through the DOF has been trying to encourage entrepreneurs, corporate sectors and commercial fishermen to exploit this resource. This paper presents some research findings on the most common information required by the above sectors such as resource abundance, distribution, species composition, fishing seasons and fishing methods. Some environmental factors (e.g. effect of monsoon seasons and upwelling areas) and biology are also discussed. These information may help the cooperate sector to decide venturing into this small pelagic fish resource.