TUARAN: About 50 deep-sea fishermen from Kampung Lontuong, Mengkabong and Gayang, here, were affected by the haze when their income dropped drastically after they could not go deep sea fishing due to the phenomenon which blanketed the area since two weeks ago.
The fishermen from the three villages had to resort to fishing nearer to the coast while waiting for the haze to disappear.
A fisherman from Kampung Lontuong, Mohd Darasat Wahid, 54, said however, coastal fishing was not as lucrative as deep-sea fishing, and this made a huge impact on their income.
“However, we dare not venture into the deep-sea as the haze is too thick thus we risk getting lost in the sea due to limited visibility,” he said to Bernama.
Mohd Darasat said as most of the fishing vessels owned by the fishermen here were not equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS), the fishermen would normally depend on the reflection of the highest mountain in the area as a guide during their deep-sea ventures.
“Now, we cannot see the reflection due to the haze, so we have stopped deep-sea fishing until the situation gets better,” he said. — Bernama
