KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Fishermen Association (Pengasah) recorded RM374,000 in profit last year.
Pengasah chairman Datuk Seri Dr Arsit Sedi said last year's profit marked a more than 70 per cent increase from 2022's RM216,000.
He said the association's members received more than RM30,000 in dividends last year, compared with about RM25,000 in the previous year.
"In 2021, Pengasah recorded about RM300,000 in profit, then it decreased to RM216,000 in 2022.
"Last year, Pengasah's profit rose again to more than RM374,000, allowing us to pay higher dividends to our investors and members," he said at the 27th Pengasah annual general meeting here last night.
Arsit said most of the profit came from the sale of fuel to fishermen and the seafood they caught.
He said the association was planning to diversify activities that could yield significant returns, including opening a fish landing centre in Sandakan.
"The land for this facility is already available and we have interested investors from China to develop it with Pengasah," Arsit said.
He said Pengasah saw potential in downstream fisheries activities, including producing and selling ice blocks to meet the needs of fishing vessels.
The event was officiated by Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) chairman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil.
Present was Sabah LKIM director Mohd Jamil Abdullah.
Faiz said Sabah had great potential in fisheries that could be developed, including exporting fish to the peninsula to meet the high demand.
He said it was important to venture into downstream fisheries activities to increase the income of fishermen.