About 50 deep-sea fishermen from Kampung Lontuong, Mengkabong and Gayang in Sabah are suffering drastic loss of income due to the haze.

The fishermen from the three villages could not go deep-sea fishing due to the environmental phenomenon which blanketed the area since two weeks ago.

They had to resort to fishing nearer to the coast while waiting for the haze to disappear.

A fisherman from Kampung Lontuong, Mohd Darasat Wahid, 54, said, however, coastal fishing was not as lucrative as deep-sea fishing and this made a huge impact on their income.

"However, we dare not venture into the deep-sea as the haze is too thick thus we risk getting lost in the sea due to limited visibility,” he told Bernama.

Darasat said as most of the fishing vessels owned by the fishermen here are not equipped with global positioning system (GP), the fishermen would normally depend on the reflection of the highest mountain in the area as a guide during their deep-sea ventures.

"Now, we cannot see the reflection due to the haze, so we have stopped deep-sea fishing until the situation gets better,” he said.

- Bernama