Socio-economic profile comparison of fishermen community in Kuala Marang and Seberang Takir, Terengganu, Malaysia

In Terengganu itself, as many as 10,497 of total fishermen have been recorded in the year 2015 with 1,326 and 971 of coastal fishermen in Kuala Marang and Seberang Takir district, respectively. Among the problems faced by the local fishermen includes poverty and minimal fishing activity due to the environmental and climate issues, in which these both issues lead to a decline in the fishery production and income. This study is conducted to describe the social and economic indicators of the fishermen and their family in both areas. A total of 162 fishermen were interviewed in both areas and were randomly selected by using Slovin’s formula. By using descriptive analysis, the relevance between economic activities and social processes of fishermen and their household is studied. In this study, the results revealed that 100% of male fishermen were recorded in both study areas with 37.1% fishermen being above 50 years old and 27.4% fishermen between 31 to 40 years old in Kuala Marang and Seberang Takir district, respectively. Fishermen in both areas have an average of 4 to 6 numbers of children while 44.9% of fishermen in Kuala Marang have 4 to 6 household members and 32.9% of fishermen in Seberang Takir have from 7 to 9 household members. With an average of USD 626 and USD 755 of household income in Kuala Marang and Seberang Takir, this study revealed that fishermen household income in both areas did not pass the National median household income which was USD 1,307 in 2016. Therefore, occupational opportunities for fishermen household should be offered so that fishermen’s wife and children can contribute in increasing their household income besides the introduction of modern fishing utility to reduce fishermen’s energy during fishing activities to enhance catches and production of the fishes.