International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE) ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-8 Issue-2S8, August 2019 1889 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: B11950882S819/2019©BEIESP DOI:10.35940/ijrte.B1195.0882S819 Abstract-: Fisheries communities are the main suppliers of Malaysian local maritime resources. These minority groups are synonym with low income, low education level, and plagued with myriad of economic limitations. The article outlines a network infrastructure concept that deemed suited for fishing communities; designed based on surveys’ outcomes conducted on a group of fishermen in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, Malaysia. The survey outcomes were analysed using induction method. System requirements are tabulated and the design of such concept is explained. The main motivation of the studies is that such community to own their network that can facilitate the establishment of community resilience. The ideas where available resources are exploited in hope to improve the community’s living standard especially their household incomes. The fundamental concept of the system is directed towards three main elements; namely available technologies, community empowerment and cost-efficiency. Keywords: Community network, fishery, communication system, wireless radio, long-range network. I. INTRODUCTION The general principle of alleviating poverty by facilitating self-sufficiency has a long history. A piece of proverbial wisdom once stated, ‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will feed himself for a lifetime’. Rather than teaching a man to fish, there is a dire need to empower fishing communities in managing their scarce resources, encourage sustainably and hence promote community resilience. Community resilience by definition is the sustained ability to utilize available resources to respond to adverse situations [1]. The said level demands for smart development, improved ecosystem, and adaptation strategies. Based on preliminary research findings on community project titled; ‘Demystifying Digital Requirement for Fishing Communities’ [2], several commonalities on issues previously identified within the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) studies [3] on similar subjects were encountered. Among the challenges that potentially lead towards poverty, based on profiling of local Revised Version Manuscript Received on August 19, 2019. W. Hashim, Institute of Informatics and Computing in Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia (email: Wahidah@uniten.edu.my) A.F. Ismail, Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, (email: af_ismail@iium.edu.my) H. Mohd Radzi, Institute of Informatics and Computing in Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. (email: husni@uniten.edu.my) F. H. Mohamed Salleh, Institute of Informatics and Computing in Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia (email: faridahh@uniten.edu.my) Z. Ismail, Institute of Informatics and Computing in Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia.(email: zurina@uniten.edu.my) Z. Mohamad, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia.(email: zaleha.m@umt.edu.my) fishing communities can be categorized into five domains as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Five aspects of challenges in Kuala Rompin fishing communities These issues remain unsolved globally. Research on how to empower these communities to keep them sustainable is ongoing. This is especially true when Internet is at their fingertips. The collaboration was established with the Kuala Rompin Fishing Association to understand the issues in detailed, for the community network infrastructure concept to be best designed. II. CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY FISHING COMMUNITIES The following sub-sections further describe each of the challenges; in more details, as the result of the survey. A. Insecure fishing ground The presences of illegal foreign fishing boats on the shore of Kuala Rompin waters are causing concerns to the local fishermen. These intrusions not only resulted in financial losses to the fishermen due to declining fish catch but they are also damaging the ecosystem. The illegal trawler boats operators are violating Zone A provisional areas and threatening the inshore fishermen, who typically operate in areas less than 5 nautical miles (10 km) from the shore. Fishing Community Wireless Network Concept in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, Malaysia W. Hashim, A.F. Ismail, H. Mohd Radzi, F. H. Mohamed Salleh, Z. Ismail, Z. Mohamad