A conservation effort to get fishermen to save the largest sea grass bed in Peninsular Malaysia received lukewarm response when only three fishermen turned up.

Choo Chee Kuang, project coordinator for the sea grass workshop by Save Our Seahorses Association, said they had expected about 20 fishermen at the talk on Tuesday. The talk was for fishermen affected by the diminishing sea grass at Sungai Pulai.

Tanjung Kupang Fishermen Club chairman Ibrahim Atan said the effects of pollution had been around for more than 30 years. “When sea grass was abundant, the fishermen easily got about 40kg of crab but now, even getting 15kg is great,” he said.

Mohd Mustafa Khan was among the residents of Tanjung Kupang, a majority of whom are fishermen, who had to look for other jobs. “Pollution caused the fish population to dwindle,” said the 45-year-old who stopped fishing about eight years ago.