According to the New Straits Times, RM10 million will be spent to establish artificial coral reefs off Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia during 2007. It is intended that these coral reefs will improve coastal fisheries for fishing communities already suffering the effects of over-fishing in the Gulf of Thailand. State Agriculture and Rural Development committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jidin Shafee said the artificial reefs, most of which will be in cube shape, will be placed three to five nautical miles from shore. He noted that fishers would be able to fish on these reefs during the monsoon season and that the closeness of the reefs to the shore would result in fishers obtaining higher returns for their catches as their fuel costs would not be excessive. Since the 1980s, artificial reefs have been placed in 174 locations around Terengganu, Malaysia, a move that has seen improvement in the number of fish in these areas.
Source: New Straits Times