Fishermen returning to the sea to continue their fishing activities must be alert and get latest information on the sea conditions from the Meteorological Services Department, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said at a function in Teluk Bahang, Penang State, to present cash aid to fishermen affected by the Tsunami tidal waves.

"We'll announce immediately if there's latest information on the after-effect vibrations following the earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatera," he said.

The Meteorological Services Department reported Monday that the after-effect vibrations from the earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale were subsiding.

At the function, Najib, who is also Chairman of the National Natural Disaster Management and Relief Committee, handed 500 ringgit (131 US dollars) to each of 27 fishermen from Tanjung Bungah and 33 from Teluk Bahang.

The 500 ringgit (131 US dollars) is the second-round aid to the200 ringgit (52 US dollars) paid earlier before the government disbursed the actual aid of 1,000 ringgit (263 US dollars) for small boats and 3,000 ringgit (789 US dollars) for big boats damaged in the Tsunami catastrophe.

Najib said fishermen whose boats were not damaged could go about their daily routines while those who have lost their boats or damaged would receive aid soon.

He said government departments needed a bit more time to finalize the number of boats involved as boats not registered with the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia were also destroyed or damaged in the calamity.

Long-term assistance, including rehabilitation projects for affected fishermen and farmers, would be decided by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry, he added.

Total damage in the country's fishery from the catastrophe has been estimated at 30 million ringgit (7.89 million US dollars) involving 5,997 fishermen in four states.