KUCHING: The Department of Fisheries Malaysia is calling on more people to venture into the aquaculture industry, not only as farmers, but also as entrepreneurs who can contribute to the economic growth of the country's agro-food sector.

Its Director-General, Dato' Adnan Hussain, said the aquaculture industry has great potential to increase the people's income and strengthen food security.

According to him, various supports in the form of guidance, training and allocations have also been provided to make it easier for people to enter this industry.

"The Department of Fisheries Malaysia provides various programmes, training and guidance to help entrepreneurs expand their operations in the field of fish farming and other aquatic life, whether in saltwater, brackish water or freshwater.

"Allocations and assistance including technical advisory services are also provided to ensure that the aquaculture industry can develop sustainably and provide good economic returns to the community," he said.

He said this when opening the Sarawak Marine Fisheries Department 2025 Aquaculture Taste and Carnival MYAP & MYKP Programme, at Majma Mall here on Saturday.

In the same speech, Dato' Adnan also said that the government has targeted the production of 950,000 metric tonnes of aquaculture products by 2030, in line with the National Agro-Food Policy.

"So far, we have only achieved 510,000 metric tonnes. The journey is still long, but our potential is huge and I believe that if there is determination from all parties, this ambition can be achieved by all of us," he added.

Also present at the programme were Sarawak Senior Director of Fisheries, Abdul Rahman Abdul Wahab; Director of the Bintawa Fisheries Research Institute, Jamil Musel and Senior Deputy Director of the Aquaculture Division of the Putrajaya Fisheries Headquarters, Rosmawati Ghazali.-UKASnews