SOME ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGYAND FISHERY OF JELLYFISH

FOUND ALONG THE COAST OF SARA WAK, MALAYSIA

DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, MALAYSIA

JANUARY 1991

91r-· PERPUSTAKAAN) ..,.. ,:\. .•. r.I{'l! DPP~:,>P·Mt\FAAf O~ ../\ TERENGGANUi .

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

2.1 Study Area2.2 Trips2.3 Fishing Methods and Gear2.4 Seasons2.5 Area Distribution2.6 Jellyfish Catch2.7 Fishing Effort2.8 Length-Weight Relationship2.9 Processing, Grading and Packaging of Jellyfish2.10 Marketing

3.1 Jellyfish Distribution3.2 Type Occurrence3.3 Fishing Seasons3.4 Fishing Methods ana Gear3.5 Catch3.6 Lengrh Frequency of the. Catch3.7 Length-Weight Relationship3.8 Fishing Effort3.9 Processing Site3.10 Processing of Jellyfish

3.10.13.10.2

Sorting and WashingProcessing Stages

3.11 Grading3.12 Packaging3.13 Marketing

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

REFERENCES

r PE~PUSTAKAAN --I!DPP~P.M/SEA1?OECi TER~NCGANU

Fig. 1 Map showing the distribution of jellyfish along the Tcoast of Sarawak 22

Fig. 2 Length frequency of the white type jellyfish caught in TKuching district (A:pril 1988) 23

1- Fig. 3 Length frequency of the white type jellyfish caught in TBetanak (March 1988) 24

Fig. 4 Length frequency of the white type jellyfish caught in TKuching district and Betanak combined (1988) 25

TFig. 5 Length frequency of the red type jellyfish caught in

DIu Kuala Matu (March 1988) 26 T

Fig. 6. Length-weight relationship of the white type jellyfishcaught in Kuching district (April 1988) 27 T

Fig. 7 Length-weight relationship of the white type jellyfishcaught in Betanak (March 1988) 28 T

Fig. 8 Length-weight relationship of the white type jellyfish Tcaught in Kuching district and Betanak combined (1988) 29

Fig. 9 Length-weight relationship of the red type jellyfish Tcaught in DIu Kuala Matu (March 1988) 30

Fig. 10 Daily catch log book 31T

Table 1 Landings of jellyfish in Sarawak by areas from1984 to 1988 (Quantities in metric tonnes) 4

Table 2 Landings of jellyfish in Sarawak by months from1980 to 1987 (Quantities in metric tonnes) 6

Table 3 Landings of Jellyfish in Sarawak by Gear Groupsfrom 1980 to 1987 (Quantity in metric tonnes) 7

Table 4 Buying price of jellyfish in the study areas 9

Table 5 Size range of jellyfish 10

Table 6 Fishing effort data of white jellyfish in Kuchingdistrict, 1988 11

Table 7 Data from Ngo Moh Hin Sea Products, DIu KualaMatu, Daro (Red type jellyfish, 1988) 11

Table 8 Grades and sizes of jellyfish 15

Table 9 Number of pieces of jellyfish inside a caseaccording to grades 16

Table lOa Sarawak exports of jellyfish by countries of originand destination from 1980 to 1987 (Quantity inmetric' tonnes & Value in M$) 17

Table lOb Sarawak imports of jellyfish by countries of originand destination from 1980 to 1987 (Quantity inmetric tonnes & Value in M$) 18

Table 11 The dealer's selling price of processed jellyfish tothe exporter 19

Red jellyfish after being washed and cleaned andare ready for processing

Processing containers were built by partitioningusing wooden material and the inner walls werecovered using plastic sheets

Spreading of salt mixture over the layers of thewhite jellyfish

Spreading of salt mixture over the layers of the redtype jellyfish

Water accumulated from the dehydration of jellyfishduring the first stage of processing

The jellyfish as seen during the 2nd stage of theprocessing

Jellyfish are heaped on a board to facilitateremoval of excess water

The processed jellyfish are weighed into a standardweight before packaging

Packaging of jellyfish into a wooden case laminatedwith plastic bag

Hammering and sealing the case and ready formarketing

Some aspects of the biology and fishery of jellyfish found along the coast of ISarawak were studied. The selected areas of study were Sematan, Buntal, Bako, Gobil,Muara Tebas, Betanak and DIu Kuala Matu. The biological studies include lengthfrequency distribution and length-weight relationship. The fishery studies include areas ofdistribution, type, fishing effort, season, methodology, stock assessment, landings, process-ing, total production and marketing. The two common species of jellyfish found locallyare called the "white type" and "red type". However, the two species have not beenidentified yet even though they are of the family Rhizostomatidae. They are the onlytypes that are edible after processing. The white type is caught seasonally whereas thered type is caught the whole year round. The season is unpredictable. The season for thewhite type is usually the early (February - April)· and later (September - December)parts of the year. Jellyfish are found to have a wide range of sizes. The mean lengthand weight of the white type are 56.3 cm and 5.58 kg respectively. For the red type themean length and weight are 34.0 cm and 1.16kg respectively. Jellyfish are an importantsource of income to the fishing community.

:oast of, Gobil,

length\Teas of)rocess-locally

)t beenIe only~as thefor theember)length

rpe theportant

Beberapa aspek biologi dan perikanan ubur-ubur yang terdapat di sepanjang pan-tai ,sarawak telah dikaji. Kawasan kajian ialah Sematan, Buntal, Bako, Gobil, Muara Te-bas, Betanak dan Vlu Kuala Matu. Kajian biologi meliputi taburan frekuensi panjang danpertalian antara panjang dengan berat. Kajian perikanan meliputi sumber, pendaratan, pe-merosesan, jumlah pengeluaran dan pasaran. Dua spesies yang biasa terdapat ialah yangdipanggil jenis "putih" dan "merah". Walaupun demikian, kedua-dua spesies ini belumlagi dicamkan walaupun ia adalah dari famili Rhizostomatidae. Hanya jenis-jenis inisahaja yang boleh dimakan selepas diproses. Jenis putih adalah bermusim manakala jenismerah adalah terdapat pada sepanjang tahun. Musimnya tidak dapat dipastikan. Musimbagi jenis putih biasanya pada awal- (Februari - April) dan hujung (September - Disem-ber) tahun. Ubur-ubur mempunyai julat saiz yang besar. Panjang purata dan berat puratajenis putih adalah masing-masing 56.3cm dan 5.58kg. Bagi jenis merah, panjang puratadan berat purata adalah masing-masing 34.0cm dan 1.16kg. Ubur-ubur adalah satu sum-ber pendapatan yang penting bagi masyarakat nelayan.

Jellyfish are very popular among both local and overseas consumers. The firstcountry to produce jellyfish for human consumption is China, where the jellyfish isconsidered as a delicacy. The Chinese have eaten jellyfish for a thousand years. InChina, jellyfish are also prized for medicinal use in the treatment of high blood pressureand bronchitis (Hay S.J. 1984).

In Sarawak, jellyfish have become an important fishery commodity with averageannual exports (1980 - 1987) amounting to 820 tonnes and valued at M$6, 110, 133.60(Table lOa).

To the fishing community, jellyfish have become a good source of income. Theraw jellyfish is sold to the dealer at a price ranging from $0.50 to $6.00 per piece de-pending on type and size. The fishermen and dealer reported that in a day's trip catch-ing jellyfish during the peak season, hundreds of pieces could be caught (Personal inter-view with the fishermen and dealer). This has encouraged both full-time and part-timefishermen to catch jellyfish during the season.

Even though jellyfish are believed to be caught seasonally the red type is foundthe whole year round with a certain peak season.

There is very little information or study on jellyfish in Malaysia even though itsindustry provides a very important source of revenue to the country.

An overview study is made here with an attempt to describe some aspects on thebiological and fisheries of jellyfish which includes the length-weight relationship, fishingdistribution, areas, s~asons, gears, stock ,assessment, landings, processing, total productionand marketing. The study covers the coastal areas of Sarawak.

The present paper is a preliminary study on the jellyfish based on the data col-lected during the 1988 trips to Kuching districts, Betanak and Vlu Kuala Matu.

The area studied covered the coast of Sarawak. A total of 8 coastal vil-lages and towns were selected as sampling sites:

1. Sematan2. Buntal3. Bako4. Muara Tebas5. Gobil6. Betanak7. Kabong8. Vlu Kuala Matu

Most of the jellyfish were landed and processed in the above coastal vil-lages and towns.

Trips were planned to each of the sampling sites mentioned· above duringthe jellyfish season. A trip was made to Sematan. Buntal, Bako, MuaraTebas and Gobil frequently during the season and also off season since itis quite near to Kuching. Kabong was visited only once. Two trips weremade to Vlu Kuala Matu. However, during the period of study in 1988,we could not make more trips to each· station as planned since jellyfishseason occurs only once.

During the trips, observations on the fishing method and gear were madeand the fishermen were interviewed. Information were also obtained fromfisheries staff working in the surveyed areas.

Information on the occurrence of jellyfish were obtained both by on-the-site studies and interviewing the fishermen who regularly fished forjellyfish.

Information on the jellyfish distribution along the coast of Sarawak wereobtained from the Statistics section of the Marine Fisheries Department.The fisheries staff. concerned were contacted regarding the areas where

. jellyfish are caught. Fishermen were interviewed and observations weremade on the areas.

Landings were recorded from one or more jellyfish dealer who had con-nections with a large number of fishermen in that fishing area. Thejellyfish dealer kept records of the jellyfish landings everyday for eachfisherman.

A total of 300 copies of pocket-size daily catch log book (Fig. 10) weresent out to the fishermen and other people involved in jellyfish fishing inKuching districts for recording their daily catch of jellyfish during theseason.

Information and data were also obtained from a dealer from Vlu KualaMatu Daro who had connections with 22 fishermen and who recordedtheir daily catch.

~ duringMuara

since it)s were1 1988,jellyfish

~ madej from

In-the-~d for

weretment.wherewere

con-The

each

wereIg in

the

:ualarded

catchNo. of fishing boat

About 20 or more of each type of jellyfish were obtained from the dealereach time sampling is done.

Each jellyfish was then measured and its body length (umbrella diameter)and weight taken. The diameter of the umbrella is measured using a cali-per and then the caliper is transferred onto' the measuring tape to get thereading to the nearest millimeter. The weight is taken to the nearest gramusing the top-pan weighing balance.

The length-weight relationship is calculated using the formula.b

W = aL

where the weight (W) is proportional to a certain power (b), the slope orregression coefficient, and 'a' is a constant which is Y-intercept. Throughthe logarithmic transformation, the above equation could be fitted into theline of best fit drawn by linear regression as:

The processing sites (or factory) were visited to make observations on theprocessing, grading and packaging stages. The dealers were also inter-viewed.

Jellyfish are found in the coastal waters of Sarawak .. Fig. 1 shows someof the main areas where jellyfish are caught and distributed. Some of themain areas are Sematan, Sampadi, Santubong, Buntal, Balm, Muara Tebasin the Kuching division, Sambir, Semera, Sebangan, Tebelu, Sebuyau inthe Kota Samarahan division, Maludam, Samarang Kabong, Grigat in the

Sri Aman division, Belawai, Paloh Tekajong, Bruit, Matu in the Sarikeidivision, Oya, Mukah, Balingian in Sibu division, Miri in Miri division,Lawas in Limbang division and Bintulu in Bintulu division.

Table 1 shows the landings of jellyfish by areas. Large amount of jellyfishare caught in the Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Sri Aman and Sibu division.

Table 1: Landings of Jellyfish in Sarawak by Areas from 1984 to 1988(Quantity in metric tonnes)

Areas/Year 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988

Kuching 3417.68 1394.05 1000.00Sematan 1002.39 1210.17 1419.63 2000.00 16.40Santubong 1610.41 1686.49Kuala Sadong 1016.68 874.10 210.68 82.04Sri Aman 216.78 917.89 848.47 1578.37 152.30Kabong 2477.58 2561.70 1241.63 1968.98 15340.31

rSibu 2000.00Mukah 617.88 521.67 319.43 8.32SarikeiBintangorMatu Daro 4178.40 2101.18 1140.17 3723.58 2805.87Belawai 1517.89 414.17 850.91 2021.28 992.68Bintulu 0.98Miri 1.77 4.27Limbang

I, Lawas

Total 14445.28 9994.93 10641.39 12980.47 19403.17

Source: Annual Fisheries Statistics Marine Fisheries Department, Sarawak.

Jellyfish are a member of the phylum Cnidaria or Coelenterata. It belongsto the class Scyphozoa as it has a dominant medusoid body form. Asimple diagnosis of the jellyfish found in Sarawak revealed that the medu-sae is lacking marginal or subumbrella tentacles. The original mouth is lostthrough fusion of oral anns. According to Gosner (1971) and Barnes(1980) scyphozoan which corresponds to this description comes under theorder Rhizostomeae. jellyfish is found along the shallow water of thecoastal tropical waters so it could be a member of the family Rhizosto-matidae and of the genus Rhopilema (Gosner 1971). According to Barnes(1980), it could be of the genus Cassiopeia, Rhizostoma, Mastigias andStomalophus.

However, the exact identity of these specimens have yet to be found. Theone which has a transparent with slight bluish tint is locally called "whitetype" (Plate 1) and the one which has a red ·colouring all over the struc-

~ Sarikei 'division,

jellyfishdivision. I

82.04152.30340.31

805.87992.68

0.984.27

belongs:TIl. A: medu-I is lostBarnes

.der theof the

lizosto-Barnes

ias and

ld. The"white

~ struc-

The white type jellyfish is mostly found in Kuching and Kabong districts.The red type on the other hand is mostly found in Matu Daro district.

Results and inferences made from personal interview with the fishermenand dealers were that the white type jellyfish is caught seasonally. Usuallythere are two seasons in a year, one at the beginning of the year and theother one at the end of the year.

The normal seasons for catching the white type jellyfish is from Februaryto April and from September to December. The seasons differ from yearto year. The red type on the other hand is caught the whole year round.

This year (1988), there is only one- season for the white type. In MatuDaro districts, the red type jellyfish is found in large amounts the wholeyear round except in May, June and July.

SematanKuchingKabongMatuBetanak

March - AprilMarch - MayMarch - AprilWhole year roundMarch - April

White typeWhite typeWhite typeRed typeWhite type

Table 2 shows landings of jellyfish in Sarawak by months. Comparinglandings in 1982, 1983 and 1984, there seems to be two seasons. Jellyfishare mostly caught from January to April and from August to October.

Table 2: Landings of Jellyfish in Sarawak by months from 1980 to 1987(Quantity in metric tonnes)

Mth/Yr 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987

Jan 54.45 1202.06 678.43 1270.42Feb 10 54.75 1027.18 2310.56 1973.16Mar 108 48.70 600.42 2267.54 2249.58 1764.17

1.Apr 93 32.06 350.24 2897.10 2964.10 879.64 1610.73 2560.10May 15 33.33 1358.63 2178.10 1010.41 3114.74Jun 42 3.82 3728.10 2017.10 2596.57Jul 151 1.50 596.40 1614.70 1612.33 2610.47 1710.10Aug 133 451.40 1178.42 1721.63 561.76 1095.80 524.69Sept 55 1.03 871.10 869.43 1821.08 356.41 1217.80 710.10Oet 79 2.54 243.70 970.30 1028.61 678.59 1079.78Nov 60 1.15 970.96Dee 54 1.90

Total 800 235.24 5342.50 13501.37 14445.28 9994.93 10641.3912980.47 I

Source: Annual Fisheries Statistics Marine Fisheries Department, Sarawak

In 1985, 1986 and 1987, large amounts of jellyfish were caught fromMarch to October and there seems to be one season only.

3.4 Fishing Methods and Gear

Jellyfish are caught by several types of gear. There are five common typesof gear used locally, namely push or scoop net (seledok) (Plate 3a), drift'or gill net (pukat hanyut or rantau) (Plate 4), bag net (pengereh or paka)(Plate 5), barrier net (pukat rentang) (Plate 6a) and trawl net (tunda).Other gears include hook (Plate 3) and fishing stakes (jermal, kilong,ngian) (Plate 7a & 7b) which are also used for catching other fishes.

The white type jellyfish are caught using mostly scoop net, hooks ortrawling as an incidental catch.

Scoop net is of polyethylene material with a mesh size of about 8 cm.The ring or opening of a scoop is made of iron and the diameter isenough (3-6 m) to reach the water surface from the deck of the fishingvessel. Jellyfish is scooped using the net when it floats to the water sur-face (Plate 3b).

Hooks are made of iron rod bent into a two-edges hook. Jellyfish arehooked under its body while floating to the water surface (Plate 3c)

The red type jellyfish is caught using drift net, bag net, barrier net andalso by trawling.

By a system of floats and sinkers, drift net was made to drift below thewater surface across the current flow. Jellyfish are caught when they aregiBed to the meshes.

Barrier net has a mesh size ranging from 7.5 cm to 15 cm. It is set inthe coastal areas anchored to a specified area during spring tide. When thetide subsides the jellyfish get trapped all along the net and are collectedwith a scoop (Plate 3b).

In 1983, 1984 and 1985 (Table 3)' the combined total landing of jellyfishcaught by bag net and barrier net is large compared to one caught byscoop net and trawling. It suggests that a large quantity of the red typejellyfish were caught during these three consecutive years since these twogears were mainly for the red type.

1764.172560.103114.742596.571710.10524.69710.10

Table 3: landings of jellyfish in Sarawak by Gear Group from 1980 to1987 (Quantity in metric tonnes)

Oear/Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987

Trawl Net 12.45 543.30 728.92 1611.27 1220.10 6055.06 4012.73Drift/OilI 3 4.33 1611.56 1214.89 100.49 20.17 1000.00 70.89Bag Net 614 217.80 7268.40 8215.41 3643.39 323.69 179.10Scoop/Push 1272.99 3416.73 4410.10 2974.67 8547.65Barrier Net 0.3 3196.64 3016.17 1101.38 701.17 287.97 170.10Fishing Stakes 7 0.36Others 176

Total 800 235.24 5342.50 13501.37 14445.28 9994.93 10641.39 12980.47

n types1), driftIr paka)(tunda).kilong,

les.

In 1986 and 1987 it is VIce versa. This shows that a large quantity of thewhite type was caught since they were caught mainly by scoop net andtrawling. In 1987, scoop net caught the largest quantity of jellyfish with atotal of 8,547.65 metric tonnes, followed by trawl nets which landed atotal of 4,012.73 metric tonnes and by bag nets with 179.10 metric tonnes.

8 em.leter isfishing

:er sur-

Since trawl net is used to catch the white type as well as the red type,sometimes the landing by trawl net is more than that of scoop net whichis used mainly for catching the white type. This is seen in 1986, wherethe quantity of jellyfish caught using trawl net (6,055.06 metric tonnes) islarger compared to scoop net (2,974.67 metric tonnes).

ish arec)

Fishermen have been observed catching the white jellyfish using scoop netin K.Buntal, Tg. Sipang, P. Satang, K. Bako, Tg. Po, P. Lakei and MuaraTebas.

In K. Matu and areas nearby where the red type jellyfish IS caught,fisherme~ used barrier and bag net.

The boat used are generally small traditional boats locally called 'sampan'and is· powered by a. 4 to 5 hp (horse-power) pump engine (Plate 8a).Sometimes big boats locally called bot berkajang (Plate 8b) are used andis fitted with inboard engine either of 7 hp, 14 hp or 33 hp. Normally,there are two to three persons in a boat. One serves as a navigator. His

ow theley are

job is to handle the boat carefully. His expertise can be seen when hetakes the boat along side the floating jellyfish, stopping and taking off foranother.

During the season, fishing is carried out once a day during day time only.The fishing operation is very much affected by the weather condition andother factors. Jellyfish comes out when the se~ is calm. When the sea is Irough, fewer jellyfish come up to the surface of the water and they areswept far out to sea. This affects the catch of the fishermen.

Jellyfish are found near to the shore during high tide and as the tide startsto recede and the current starts to flow out into the sea, they will befound quite far out to the sea that is, during low tide, for the red type,the jellyfish seems to come out from the coastal waters and flow out to-'wards the sea as the tide subsides.

IThe fishing operation usually takes the whole day where the fishermen icomes back at the end of the day to sell their catch. Each white type tjellyfish with or without tentacles fetch the same price per piece. In orderto reduce loading weight so that more jellyfish could be loaded into theboat, the fishermen cut off the tentacles while at sea during the process ofcatching (Plate 9). For the red type jellyfish the tentacles are not cut off. 1

CatchI

The catch is sold directly to the local jellyfish dealer on pIece rate basis. I

I

There is a system in the selling of jellyfish between the dealer and the-\fishermen. Each dealer has connections with a large number of fishermen(10 to 60) in that fishing area. By some kind of agreement the dealerhelps by supplying them with fishing equipment such as fishing boat, boatengine, nets, floats and other necessary fishing gears. In this way, thefishermen is getting a loan indirectly from the dealer in purchasing thesefishing gears. So inorder to _pay back this loan, during the season, thefishermen has an obligation to sell their catch to the dealer. Whateverearning the fishermen has a certain amount is deducted as payment for theloan. Normally this is done by deducting directly from the buying priceper piece of jellyfish. The usual amount deducted is 20 cents to 30 centsper piece. For example, if the buying price of jellyfish is $1.00 per piece,then the dealer pays only 80 cents per piece, which means an amount of20 cents had been deducted for loan payment.

The fishermen usually need one to two years to pay back the loan whichdepends also on the occurrence of jellyfish season. If during a particularseason, a large quantity of jellyfish could be caught, then large paymentcould be made.

For fishermen who do not have any connection with a particular dealer,they sell their catch to the one who offers higher buying price per piece.

1 when heing off for

time only ..Idition andthe sea isi they are

tide startsy will bered type,:

w out to-

and theishennene dealeroat, boatvay, therIg theseson, theVhatever• for theIg priceW cents:r piece,tount of

1 whichlrticularlayment

dealer,. piece.

The buying price of jellyfish differs from area to area. The buying pricevaries according to competition among dealers and international marketdemand. If the demand for jellyfish is great, then the exporter gives higherpurchasing price of the processed jellyfish. The dealer then offer higher

. buying price to the fishennen. In 1988 the price per piece of the whitetype range from $0.50 to $1.50. Normally the red type fetch a higherprice which range from $0.50 to $6.00 per piece. For white type, thesame price is offered to every single piece whether big or small. For thered type on the other hand, the price varies according to sizes as shownin Table 4.

Type

WhiteWhiteWhiteWhiteWhiteRed

SematanBuntalBakoMuara TebasGobil

WhiteRedWhiteRed

WhiteRed

$0.50 - $0.80$0.70 - $1.50$1.00 - $1.50$0.70 - $1.00$0.70$6.00$5.00$4.00$3.00$1.40$3.50 - $5.00$0.50$3.00$1.50$1.50$1.50$0.60$0.50 - $2.60

33cm & above30cm - 33cm25cm - 30cm20cm - 25cm

35cm30cm25cm20cm

(3 tails)(6 tails)

Towards the end of the season where fewer jellyfish are caught usuallythere is a strong competition among the dealers so the buying price ishigher. In Buntal, Bako and Muara Tebas, the buying price per piece ofthe white type jellyfish at the end of the season is increased to $1.20,$1.50 and $1.00 respectively. The buying price per piece of the white typeis higher in Kabong throughout the season.

The dealer in Gobii offers the highest buying price per piece for the redtype ($1.00 - $6.00) compared to those in Vlu Kuala Matu and Betanak.

The range in sizes for the two types of jellyfish studied varies considera-bly. The white type is found to be bigger and heavier than the red type.The size of the white type range from from 36.8 to 71.2 em and the redtype from 18.0 to 44.5 cm (Table 5).

9

Table 5: Size Range of Jellyfish

Type Area Length (cm) Mean Wt. SampleMin. Max. Mean (kg) no. (n)

White Kuching 36.8 71.2 55.2 5.05 192District

Betanak 45.0 65.3 57.7 6.09 149

Kuching District 36.8 71.2 56.3 5.48 341& BetanakCombined

Red Vlu KualaMatu 18.0 44.5 34.0 1.16 202

In the Kuching district, as shown in the histogram (Fig. 2), about 83.9%of the white type jellyfish caught is within the 48 - 64 cm length, whilethe largest group caught is between 50 - 52 cm length.

In Betanak, about 80.5% of the jellyfish caught is within the 54 - 64 cmlength, while the largest group caught is between 60 - 62 cm length (Fig.3).

From the combined data for the Kuching district and Betanak, most of thejellyfish caught is within the 48 - 64 cm length and the largest groupcaught is between 56 - 58 cm length a's seen in the histogram (Fig. 4)

For the red type jellyfish caught in Ulu Kuala Matu, about 79.7% of thejellyfish caught is within the 30 - 44 cm length, while the largest groupcaught is between 34 - 36 cm as shown in the histogram (Fig. 5)

The equation for length-weight for the white type and the red typejellyfish are as follows:

(i) Kuching districtLog W = 2.2554 log L - 0.2245Correlation coefficient, r = 0.931Goodness of fit' = 0.867n = 192

(ii) BetanakLog W = 2.7498 log L - 1.0584Correlation coefficient, r = 0.9098Goodness of fit = 0.8277n = 149

(iii) Kuching and Betanak combinedLog W = 2.4634 log L - 0.5733Correlation coefficient, r = 0.9198Goodness of fit = 0.8460n = 341

Sampleno. (n)

192

149

341 Ulu Kuala MatuLog W = 2.5614 log L -0.8573Correlation coefficient, r = 0.8975Goodness of fit = 0.8055n = 202

mt 83.9%~th, while

The graphical form of the length-weight relationship of the two types ofjellyfish in different areas are given in Fig. 6 - 9.

- 64 cm19th (Fig.

The fishing effort of fishermen in Kuching district is as shown in Table 6.The jellyfish season starts in March which is also the peak month.

)st of the~st group:Fig. 4)

Table 6: Fishing Effort Data of White Type Jellyfish in Kuching District1988

% of the~st group5)

Tt. no. of Tt. no. of Catch in Catch in Catch Per UnitFishing Fishing Piece kg. Effort

days boats (kg/Fishing boat)

543 97 53,878 272,083.90 501.07603 83 23,846 120,422.30 199.71150 26 4,191 21,164.55 141.10

MarchAprilMay

In Diu Kuala Matu, where the red type jellyfish is found the whole yearround large amounts are caught. from January to April (Table 7)

Jellyfish are processed in a proper processing site or factory (Plate 10).The processing site is either permanent or temporary. The permanent fac-tories are usually built adjacent to the shop building. They are built on aproper and strong ground.

Temporary wooden huts built as factories are extensively found along thecoastal areas. The hut is built during the season only and after the season j

is over, they are either dismantled or abandoned. Repairs and rebuilding ofj

factories are only done when the next season starts.

Usually the factories are situated by the river side and this provides agood drainage system during the processing, facilitates easy transportationand other needs.

Factories were mostly owned by shopkeepers and they also deal in a lotof other fisheries product ·like prawn, fish and others. The dealer employslocal workers as they are proven to be experts in this kind of job. Mostof them are women. Some big factories employ more workers than theothers. It also depends on the landing per day during the season. If largeamounts of jellyfish are landed, then more workers are employed. Thenumber of workers range from 5 to 50. The workers are paid monthly asin the case of big factories and daily or hourly for small factories duringthe season only. The salaries are about $200.00 to $300.00 per month andfrom $0.80 to $1.00 per hour for those paid hourly.

Some local businessmen or working people group together to set up afactory. They manage the factory like any other factory whereby theyemploy local workers.

In some cases, a factory is set up by a group of :relatives or friends. Theyoperate the factory in a family business style. Their family members areemployed as workers and those who are not shareholders in the businessare paid.

Most areas have more than one factory. In Ulu Kuala Matu alone, thereare more than 8 factories.

Jellyfish are processed before being marketed. The processing consists ofpr~servation, dehydration and improving the texture of the product. Thesethree processes takes place simultaneously. The salt mixture spread overthe layers of jellyfish consists of coarse salt, alum and soda of differentproportion. Fine, clean salt is used only in the final salting stage. Salt isused for preservation as well as dehydration. Sodium bicarbonate(soda) isused as hydrating agent. To improve the texture of the processed jellyfish, .potassium alum is added to the processing mixture. Excessive or inade-quate amounts of any of these agents affects the quality of the jellyfish.

along thethe seasonluilding of

Jellyfish caught are landed at the processing site (Plate 11). Theyare sorted out according to size and type (Plate 12). The tentaclesof jellyfish are separated from the body using knife or just by pull-ing apart using fingers (Plate 13). This is done for the red typeonly .since the tentacles of the white type have been cut off whileat sea (Plate 9).

:Plate 10).lanent fac-built on a I

lrovides alsportation

The body and the tentacles of the red type jellyfish are washed toremove all the dirt. A small blunt blade like a broken piece of aruler is used to scrap off the red mucous coating from the body ofthe jellyfish (Plate 14). The washed body looks clean and whitishand ready for actual processing (Plate 15). The tentacles are proc-essed separately from the body.

I in a lot. employsjob. Mostthan the

:. If large,yed. The.onthly asesduringlOnth and

For the white type jellyfish, when it comes in a large amount, theyare usually put into a container with complete immersion using so-lution obtained from stage two mixture earlier on. If the solution isnot available then a mixture -of salt, alum and soda (Plate 16) isspread over the layers of jellyfish placed inside the container. Thejellyfish is left inside the container overnight and is washed thefollowing morning. The dirt is removed by scrubbing using brush(Plate 14b) or spraying using water jet (Plate 14c) before transfer-ring into the next container for further processing.

set up aeby they The jellyfish goes through various stages of processing. The stages

applies to the body of the jellyfish.

Ids. They1bers are.business

The processing containers or tanks are made of plastic or woodenmaterial (Plate 17). For the wooden containers the inner wall iscovered with plastic sheets. The containers are of variable size.Small containers are used for processing the red type jellyfishwhich can accomodate about 500 pieces. Some big containers withdimensions of 3.8 m x 1.8 m x 0.9 m or even bigger can accomo-date 5000 - 7000 pieces of the white type jellyfish.

nsists of:t. These~ad overdifferent. Salt is:soda) isjellyfish, .r inade-~llyfish.

Each time the jellyfish are put inside the containers they are spreadevenly in layers. The salt mixture or any particular agents used isspread over the layers.

The typical processing stages for the two types are summarised inthe flow chart below .

SUMMARY OF JELLYFISH PROCESSING

JELLYFISHI

IWHITE TYPE

Stage 1• For about 6000 pieces of jellyfish, a salt

mixture in a proportion of 400kg salt:56kg alum: 10 kg soda is spread overthe jellyfish -layers (Plate 18a)

Jellyfish are watery in nature and dehy-dration takes. place, so salt water is ac-cumulated inside the container (Plate 19)

No more mucous is found.

• Shrinking begins to take place.

• Kept in this stage for three nights be-fore transferring to second container.

Stage 2

The salt mixture applied is 250kg salt:25kg alum: 3kg soda.

• Further shrinkage takes place and be-comes thinner (Plate 20)

• Kept in this stage for seven days beforeallowed to go to the next stage.

. Stage 3

• Purely salting stage

About 15 kg of fine clean salt is added

• Kept in this stage for one week

Stage 4

Physical dehydration stage which is theend of salting.

Jellyfish -are heaped in layers (18 incheshigh) on a wooden board to facilitateremoval of excess water (Plate 21).

Left to dry for four days in the shade

After each day, the heap is put upsidedown where those layers at the bottomis put on the top.

• This gives equal chances for the waterto be drained out from each layerthrough compression by its own weight.

The heap becomes lower

DehydratiQn of the jellyfish yield a thinand membrane-like finished product.

After this they are ready for grading.

IRED TYPE

Stage 1

For about 500 pieces of jellyfish a mix-ture in a proportion of 500kg salt: 45kgalum: lkg soda is spread over thejellyfish layers (Plate 18b).

Left to shrink in this stage for twonights.

Stage 2

A mixture of 50kg salt and 3kg alum isadded

Further shrinkage takes place.

• Left in this stage for two days beforetransferring to third container.

Stage 3

• Stage 2 is repeated.

Stage 4

Purely salting stage.

• About 30kg of fine clean salt is added.

• Kept at this stage for five days beforebeing transferred to the next container.

Stage 5Final salting stage

A little amount of salt is added to makesure that the jellyfish is salted to theoptimum and is well preserved.

• Physical dehydration stage

Jellyfish are heaped to a height of about18 inches on a wooden board.

Left to dry for two days and threenights and the heap is turned upsidedown for four times during that period.

• Excess water is drained out throughcompression by its own weight.

A thin and membrane-like finished prod-uct is obtained.

ore:r.

akethe

tree;ideod. '

ugh

The processed jellyfish is' graded according to its size which range from15 to 30 cm in diameter for the white type and between 20 to 36 cm forthe red type. Jellyfish that are broken either into halves or into smallerpieces are graded differently from the unbroken. Both types are gradeddifferently.

The best quality for the white type is Grade A, followed by Grade B, C,D and O. Grade AA is of the best quality for the red type followed byGrade A, B, C, D and O.

Grade AA, A, B, C and D are mainly the bodies of the jellyfish whereasGrade 0 consists of the broken pieces. The grades and sizes of jellyfishare as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Grades and sizes of Jellyfish

White Type Red Type Size in cm(Grnde) (Grade)

AA 36 & aboveA 30 & above

A 30 - 36B B 25 - 30C C 20 -25D D 20 & below0 0 Broken pieces

3.12 Packaging

Jellyfish are either packed in wooden cases or tins. Processed tentacles ofthe red type are pac!ced in tins (empty biscuit tins) of 25 kg nett weightof which allowances are made for water loss (Plate 22). Jellyfish packedin tins are usually sold to retailers who then resell them to consumers insmaller quantities.

Processed bodies of the jellyfish are packed in wooden double or triplepolythene bag (Plate 23a - d). The standard dimensions of the case are22.8 cm in height 25.4 cm in width and 45.7 cm in length. The cases aremainly for packaging a standard weight of 25 kg of jellyfish though insome areas a standard weight of 50 kg is also used. This type of packag-ing is mainly for export only.

During packaging, allowances are given to prevent short weight at landingports. For the 25 kg packaging an amount of 28 kg of jellyfish is packedto give an extra weight of 3 kg as an allowance. For the 50 kg packag-ing, an extra weight of 5 kg of jellyfish is given.

The number of pieces of jellyfish in a 25kg packaging case varies accord-ing to grades and weight per piece of the processed jellyfish as shown inTable 9.

Grades No. of piecesWhite type Red type

AA 130 200A 90 110 240 270B 130 180 300 550C 160 170 " 600 800D 200 & above 800 & above

As seen from the table, more pieces of the red type is packed into a casethan the white type having the same grade. This shows that the processedred type is much lighter compared to the processed white type per piece.

Jellyfish caught are sold both to local and foreign market. Jellyfish areexported mostly externally and only a small proportion is for the domesticmarket. Most of the jellyfish sold locally are the tentacles and this consti-tutes only a small proportion of the sale of jellyfish. These are sold bythe producers to the retailers, hotels and restaurants throughout the country.

For the external market, jellyfish are exported to countries like Japan(whichimport the most), Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong (Table lOa &lOb).

The dealers sell the jellyfish to local exporters and distributors, some ofwhich are:

1) The Sea Horse (Sarawak) Co. Sdn. Bhd., Kuching2) Hock Seng Co., Kuching3) Taito Co., Kuching4) Kim Seng Lee Co., Kuching5) Sarawak Sea Products Trading Co., Sibu

des Table lOa: Sarawak Exports of Jellyfish by Countries of Origin andDestination from 1980 - 1987 (Quantity in Metric tonnes &Value in M$)

CountrieslY ear 1980 1981 1982 1983Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value

Peninsular M'sia 0 50 11.62 53,342 120.19 697,126Sabah 0.06 285 0.25 1,202Japan 632.05 5,651,586 357.03 4,072,762 318.07 2,912,617 702.9 4,907,685KoreaHong Kong 11.43 95,051 12.45 81,007 15.32 120,703 18.05 119,872ChinaBruneiSingapore 20.29 34,101 .15.48 26,445 13.31 29,887 64.3 419,311ase Taiwan

sed Indonesia

~ce. Total 663.77 5,780,788 385.05 4,180,214 358.38 3,116,834 905.69 6,145,196

are conti ...stic Table lOa: Sarawak Exports of Jellyfish by Countries of Origin andlsti-by

Destination from 1980 - 1987 (Quantity in Metric tonnes &Value in M$)

try.CountrieslY ear 1984 1985 1986 1987

lich Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value

l&Peninsular M'sia 116.29 629,331 18.38 93,977. 286.59 1,897,565 60.19 402,108Sabah 1.78 6,982 0.29 1,069Japan 503.28 3,527,641 834.07 4,747,011 1,115.42 8,018,277 709.03 7,371,698

of Korea 28 146,043 258 1,416,791Hong Kong 3 21,373 5.01 37,164 99.13 559,506ChinaBrunei 0.28 770 0.02 70Singapore 2.92 12,470 31.48 96,335 34.98 120,021Taiwan 26.54 166,448 31.48 119,009 48.33 170,790 35.68 95,588Indonesia

Total 649.39 4,345,563 894.06 5,016,683 1,509.82 10,329,010 1,197.30 9,966,781

Table lOb: Sarawak Imports of Jellyfish by Countries of Origin andDestination from 1980 - 1987 (Quantity in Metric tonnes &Value in M$)

CountrieslY ear 1980 1981 1982 1983Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value

Peninsular M'sia 0.93 2,775 10.58 105,669 8.4 42,000Sabah 0.03 114Japan om 180KoreaHong KongChinaBruneiSingapore 2.26 2,618TaiwanIndonesia om 850

Total 3.2 6,243 10.62 105,963 8.4 42,000

cont/ ...

Table lOb: Sarawak Imports of Jellyfish by Countries of Origin and.Destination from 1980 - 1987 (Quantity in Metric tonnes &Value in M$)

CountrieslY ear 1984 1985 1986 1987Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value

Peninsular M'sia 13.43 69,712 1.5 3,300 10.53 47,381SabahJapan 0.03 45KoreaHong KongChina 28.56 80,557BruneiSingapore 3.17 8,160 3.95 17,711TaiwanIndonesia

Total 13.43 69,712 4.7 11,505 43.04 145,649

The prices of jellyfish are negotiable whereby the products (exporters) andimporters call the prices. In this way the price offered to the dealer by theexporter is also negotiable. It varies every year depending on the marketdemand.

Jellyfish are priced according to grades and types. The red type fetchhigher prices than the white type.

and:s &

and.~s &

andy thearket

The range of the selling price of the dealer to the exporter obtained fromvarious dealers for the past year is as shown in Table 11.

The Dealer's Selling Price of Processed Jellyfish to the Ex-porter

White Type Red Type

Seman tan Kuching Kabong Betanak U. K. Matu Betanak U.K. Matu

AA 2,300 22,000A 4,800 4,000 6,000 7,500 18,000 19,000

-7,000 -6,000B 4,500 13,000 18,000

-6,000C 4,000 6,000 9,500 15,000

-5,200 -8,000D 3,500 8,000

-4,500a 2,000

-3,000

In 1988, the selling price per ton of the processed red type jellyfish is asfollows: Grade AA and A is spelling between $22,000 - $24,000, GradeB: $12,000 - $14,000, Grade C: $9,000 - $12,000 and Grade 0: $2,000.

If a higher price is offered for grade AA or grade A, then the followinggrades B, C and 0 will also fetch a higher price. This is true for Diu K.Matu and Betanak.

Sarawak's export and import of jellyfish are as shown in Table lOa andTable lOb respectively. The quantity exported varies from year to year.

From 1980 to 1987, the average quantity exported per year is 820.43metric tons valued at M$6,1l0,133.60.

The quantity of jellyfish imported also differs every year. The averagequantity imported per year (1981 - 1987) is 13.90 metric tons and valuedat M$63,512.00. Large quantities of jellyfish (43.04 metric tons) are ex-ported in 1987 which were valued at $145,649.00.

The coastal waters of Sarawak are a suitable area for jellyfish breeding. This isshown by the occurrence of jellyfish all along the coast of Sarawak. The occur-rence at anyone area may not be in abundance every year (Table 1)

A! the moment there is no scientific name for the jellyfish caught· in Sarawakeven though from a simple diagnosis it could be a member of the family Rhizos-tomatidae. They are simply called the white type and the red type.

The white type jellyfish is caught seasonally and the red type is caught the wholeyear round. The interval between each season is probably the reproduction peri-ods. Each season lasts for three to four months. The occurrence of season is un-predictable as it varies from year to year.

The length frequency for the catch shows that jellyfish have wide range of sizes·(Fig. 2 - 5) and this may reflect different growth rate. The white type seemed tobe much bigger in size as well as heavier than the red as shown by the meanlength and mean weight (Table 5).

From the length-weight relationship observed, the value of goodness of fit of theregression equation to the sampled data is close to one. This indicates that thereis some kind of relationship between the length and the weight of the jellyfish.

There is no catch data for jellyfish from previous years. The present Catch PerUnit Effort (CPUE) for the white type can, however, be considered to be quitelow (Table 6). The highest CPUE event in the peak month of March is 501.1kg/day (which is equivalent to about 100 pieces of an average sized jellyfishweighing 5.0 kg each). This is far below the reported catch of fishermen whoclaim that in previous years, each day would bring them as much as 200 - 300pieces of jellyfish during the season (Personal communication with fishermen).·There are several possible causes for the decline in CPUE in the Kuching dis-tricts.

Firstly, there are more people operating in the area with less quantity of jellyfishfound. Secondly, current mechanisation of the boats enable the fishermen tocover wider area within a shorter period and the efficiency of catching themwould be greater. Another factor is that the jellyfish is in great demand interna-tionally especially for its delicacy and medicinal uses. This great demanddefinitely increased the price of the raw jellyfish and thus has encouraged morepeople to fish.

In Ulu Kuala Matu where the red type is found, the CPUE is very low too,even during the peak season from January to April (Table 7). The highest CPUEis 66.56 kg/day (equivalent to about 58 pieces of average size). The declinemight also be due to the causes mentioned above for the white type. The CPUEis very much less in May, June and July indicating less jellyfish found and veryfew fishermen operating.

Both types of jellyfish are very important commercially, especially to the coastalfishing community. The dealer and the exporter also benefit greatly from thejellyfish industry. It is hoped that the present study would give some light on thejellyfish industry in Sarawak so that further development could be made.

Further studies are required to verify the present observations and results. Studiesproposed include the scientific identification of species, the problems and prospectsof marketing, growth rate, breeding habitat and reproductive biology.

~holepen-s un-

sizes'led tomean

Df thethere

yfish.

:h Perquite501.1

:llyfishn who- 300:rmen). 'Ig dis-

ellyfishnen to~ theminterna-iemandd more

)w too,t CPUEdecline

~ CPUEnd very

: coastalrom thet on the'

Studiesprospects

I wish to express m'y gratitude and thanks to the Director-General of FisheriesMalaysia, Y. Bhg. Dato' Shahrom b. Hj. Abd. Majid and the Director of MarineFisheries Department, Sarawak, Mr. Teo Chee Kwang for their permission topublish this paper. I am greatly indebted to the Director of Fisheries ResearchInstitute, Malaysia, Mr. Ong Kah Sin and the Head of Fisheries Research Section,Sarawak, Mr. George Chong Chiaw Min for their suggestions and advice.

Special thanks also go to Mr. Albert Chuan Gambang, Fisheries Officer, Kuchingfor his critical comments and suggestions on the manuscript. I also gratefully ac-knowledge the assistance rendered by Mdm. Annie Urn PK, Mdm. Helen Urn,Mr. Peter Tingkau, Mr. Hussein Rosli and those involved in both field and labo-ratory work.

Annual Fisheries Statistics, 1980 - 1987. Marine Fisheries Department, Sarawak.

Barnes, R.D. 1980 Invertebrate Zoology. Holt-Saunders International Edition. 112- 150.

Gosner, K.L. 1971 Guide to Identification of Marine and Estuarine Invertebrates-Cape Hatteras to the Bay of Fundy. John Wiley and Sons. 66 - 140.

Hay, SJ. 1984 Jellyfish-Friend and Foe. Scottish Fisheries Bulletin 48, 55 - 60.

N

t

..~15cClJ::lCTClJI-

Lt..

10

•..

5

n

I

36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74Length (em)

Length frequency of the white typeJellyfish caught in Kuching district (April1988)

~5uc::~:::lc:T~s..u..10

44 46 48 50 52 54 56 5 60 62 64' 66 68Length (em)

Length frequency of the white typeJellyfish caught in Betanak (March 1988)

50

45

40

35

30

25~c:41g.2041s..

LJ..

15

10'> •

5

,36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74

Length (em)

Length frequency of the white Jellyfishcaught in Kuehing district and Betanakcombined (1988)

r- PERPUSTAKAAN1 DPPSPM, SEAFDECl. TERENGGANU ,I

>,uc::~ 15c:r<lJ~lJ..

18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48Lenqth (em)

Length frequency of the red type Jellyfishcaught in DIu Kuala Matu (March 1988)

Intercept =-0.2245426Slope 2.255405No.Obs =: 192

1.688 1.728Log L

Length-weight Relationship of white type Jellyfish caught in Kuchingdistrict (April 1988)

Intercept =-1.058382Slope = 2.749778No. Obs = 149

1.717Log L

I1.762

I1.785

~ 3 7en'o....J

1.728Log L

Intercept =-0.4728852Slope = 2.403844No. Obs =341

Length-weight Relationship of white type Jellyfish caught in Kuchingdistrict and Betanak combined (1988)

3:

C'l3.1o-.l

I1.259

I1.426

I . I I1.482 1.538

Log L

I1.315 I1.371

Intercept =-0.85Q2876Slope = 2.561361No. Obs = 202

I1.593

I1 .649

Length-weight Relationship of Red Type Jellyfish caught in Ulu Kuala. .

The red type jellyfish with the tentacles still in-tact and a reddish coloring present

Scoop net (left) and hook(right) used for catchingjellyfish·

Plate 6~: ~:.;Barrier net in, operation along the river bank

Plate 6b: Harvesting of catch from barrier net at low tide.Notice other fishes are caught

Fishing stake (Ngian) in operation in the riverinearea

Net used in the 'ngian' opera-tion. Notice the two cod endsof different mesh size.

Plate 8a: A traditional boat ('sampan') with a full load ofthe white type jellyfish (approximately 200pieces)

Plate 8b: ~ ~bigger boat ('bot berkajang') commonly used. for catching jellyfish

Separating tentacles from the body of the whitetype jellyfish while at sea

Separating the tentacles from the body of the redjellyfish

Plate 14a: Scrapping off the mucous coating from the bodyof the red jellyfish

Plate .14b: Removing the mucous coating and dirt by scrub-bing of the white type jellyfish

Plate 15: Red jellyfish after being washed and cleaned andare ready· for processing

Plate 16: . A mixture of salt, alum and soda ready for use

Processing containers are made. of partitions usingwooden material and the inner walls are coveredwith plastic sheet

Spreading of salt mixture over the layers of thewhite type jellyfish

Plate 18b: Spreading of salt mixture overthe layers of red type jellyfish

Water accumulated from dehydratjon of jellyfishduring the first stage of processing .

The jellyfish as seen during the second stage ofprocessing

Jellyfish are heaped on a board to facilitate re-moval of excess water

The processed jellyfish are weighed into a stan-dard weight before packing

Packing of jellyfish into wooden cases lined withplastic bags