RANAU: A total of 123 tagal areas have been created in Ranau so far, not only making it the district with the most tagal but also boosting its status as the premier ecotourism destination in Sabah and the country.
Proud of this success, Deputy Chief Minister II Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam who is also the Kundasang Assemblyman thanked the Sabah Fisheries Department for creating the only Tagal Information Center for the state in Ranau.
“We are proud and happy with the success achieved by the Sabah Fisheries Department together with the community, especially in Ranau.
“The tagal system is an effort of the local community with the State Government through the Sabah Fisheries Department to protect, conserve and manage the river fisheries resources in Sabah.
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Dr Joachim who is also Minister of Local Government and Housing said this when inaugurating the three Kg Tagal Committees in Kg Turuntongon, here on Wednesday. The text of his speech was read by his Political Secretary, Yubidi Gompoyo.
The tagal system is a traditional fishing system that has been practiced for generations among local communities in Sabah.
Recognising the importance of this system’s role in the sustainable management of fish resources in the river, the Sabah Fisheries Department has empowered this tagal system through a smart partnership between the Department and the community.
The implementation of the tagal system also creates cooperation among the community and the Department of Fisheries towards ensuring that river fisheries resources in Sabah are protected, restored and harvested sustainably.
Meanwhile, Dr Joachim added that the Department of Fisheries has taken the initiative since 2002 to further develop and strengthen the implementation of the tagal system.
Through this smart partnership, he said, the Fisheries Department acts as a technical advisor to all Tagal Committee Members in each district and promotes the tagal system to districts that have not implemented the river management system.
He said, the Fisheries Department has also introduced the concept of tagal area zoning, which is a green zone where fishing is allowed throughout the year; the yellow zone for fishing is scheduled; and the red zone for fishing is not allowed.
This zoning concept was created so that the management of river fisheries resources can be carried out in a better and orderly manner, he explained.
“The tagal system is based on the concept of community involvement and through tagal activities, the income of rural communities can be increased with a large fish harvest, as well as tagal ecotourism activities such as playing with tame fish, camping by the river and fishing sports.
“Tagal ecotourism like Tagal Kg. Luanti, Tagal Kg. Marakau and several other tagals in Ranau district have been successful in increasing the economic income of the community and have been able to provide employment opportunities to the villagers,” said Dr. Joachim.
Realizing how important the concept and objectives of this tagal system are, the Sabah Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry has set 10 tagals in 2022 as one of the Sabah Fisheries Department’s Key Performance Index (KPI).
“I understand that the KPI of this tagal has already been achieved, in fact the Sabah Fisheries Department has been able to create a total of 13 new tagals, exceeding 30 percent of the set target.
“This shows that this tagal concept is indeed very well received by the community,” said Dr. Joachim, while congratulating the Sabah Fisheries Department for the efforts that have been taken in further developing the tagal system in Sabah.
Apart from being a system to protect, conserve and manage the river fishing system, the tagal system has also succeeded in becoming a successful tourism product in Sabah, said Dr. Joachim again.
He also commended the three Tagal Committees of Kg. Turuntungon who have cooperated in further developing the tagal system in this district because of their persistent efforts.
Also present were, Sabah Fisheries Director, Azhar Kassim; Ranau Assistant District Officer, Jeffrson Solingkin and Ranau Fisheries Officer, Ramlee Raiman.
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