ALOR GAJAH: Registered fishing vessels in Melaka are required to be painted purple by 2022.
The colour scheme was also chosen to differentiate Melaka fishing boats from other states, in addition to facilitating law enforcement by the State Fisheries Department.
Its director Mohd Fauzi Solehon said fishermen in the state were urged to adopt the colour scheme from now onwards to ensure that it could be standardised by 2022.
"The colour of boats for Melaka has been designated to purple as each state has its own colour scheme, making it easier for the boat to be identified from which state it originates.
"It (purple) also makes it easier for the authorities to make enforcement and monitoring at sea and also preserve fishery resources," he said here today.
Apart from that, purple was also chosen because the boat's hull would be seen as less dirty compared to bright colours such as white and yellow, he said.
Asyraf Ibrahim, 26, helped paint the fibre-glass boat belonging to his father Ibrahim Md Isa, 66, at the fishing base in Kampung Balik Batu, near here, to comply with the new rule.
He said despite having to incur the cost of buying paint, his father complied with the rule to ensure that no legal action would be taken against him.
Fazli Baba, 34, had requested for his new fibre-glass boat which he ordered two months ago to be painted purple.
"Alhamdulillah, I have been using the new RM11,000 purple boat for the past month. Most of the other fishermen have also resorted to painting their vessels in the same colour.
"Previously, there was no specific colour set for boats in the state (Melaka) but the boat licence renewal notice issued by the Fisheries Department stated that fishermen are now required to paint their boat purple," he said at Kampung Pasir Gembor.
He said a purple hulled boat was also easier to detect in the middle of the sea, including during rain.