Kinabatangan sustainable fishing traps adopted in Paitan

PAITAN: Fishermen in Paitan have now adopted the sustainable bubu (fishing traps) method originating from the village of Sukau in Kinabatangan.

The method which employs the use of plastic wire mesh instead of using the bark of certain species of trees has been winning over fishermen village by village since it was launched by the HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Programme (HUTAN-KOCP) in 2004.

“This is an example of using plastic to do good for the environment because as we know plastic last for a very long time which means that unlike using traditional bubus which need replacing about every six months, these traps last forever and stop the fishermen from damaging and sometimes killing trees,” explained HUTAN-KOCP programme manager Datu Ahbam bin Abulani at the launching.

Recognising the value of protecting trees from over exploitation by fishermen, the introduction in Paitan was jointly launched together with the District Office, the Sabah Wildlife Department and the Environmental Protection Department recently.

“Using the wire mess method is easy and quick to make as it takes only a morning but making a traditional bubu can take up to a week to make and is labour intensive,” said Datu Ahbam.

The cost of the wire mesh material is less than RM200 and fishermen from Sukau provide the training.

“We worked with fishermen in Sukau for more than a year to come up with a sustainable replacement which also had to be a cost effective alternative to the traditional bubu which had negative environmental impact to the forest and wildlife within Kinabatangan,” added Datu Ahbam who was pleased to see this method growing in popularity outside Kinabatangan.

Besides the launching and training for the fishermen in Paitan, there was also a series of talks and exhibition carried out to heighten the awareness of the local community on the importance of conserving forest and wildlife for all the environmental services it provides all humanity.

“As an orang kampung (villager) myself, I think it’s important to provide awareness and environmental education to others from rural areas as we rely on the environment for so much but sometimes we don’t realise it, so we are actively doing such awareness in kampungs (villages) in Sabah,” said Datu Ahbam.

Also present at the launching was the Assistant District Officer for Paitan, Elias Abdul Hamid as well as the heads of the Village Development and Security Committee for Kampung Kabuluh, Kampung Sungai-Sungai Sugut and Kampung Kobambangan.