AVA issues floating farms advisories on fish disposal

Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia 5 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has issued advisories to floating farms affected by the recent plankton bloom, to help farmers return to normal operations as soon as possible.

They are aimed at helping farmers deal with the current situation as well as any similar incidents in future. But even as farmers pick up the pieces, they are looking at support from the government.

Farmers are instructed not to throw the carcasses into the sea. Instead, they have to place them in plastic bags and dispose them on land.

The dead fish are to be recorded in specific forms, with notes of the type of species, size, weight and estimated value.

Farmers have also been advised on how to deal with similar situations in future, including not overstocking net-cages and aerating the water using pumps.

If their cages are overcrowded, farmers are advised to reduce their stock density by transferring their fishes to other cages. They are also advised to look out for water discolouration, abnormal fish behaviour and changes in weather conditions.

Some of the farmers said they have nothing to look forward to unless the government steps in to provide some support.

Chow Chan Yuen, fish farmer, Kelong 39 said: "See whether the government can grant us, can help us, for our whole community to rebuild the industry back to normal."

The AVA said it will work with affected farmers to see how they can be helped.

- CNA/sc

Plankton bloom fallout
Farmers await dry weather while AVA prepares assistance
Ong Dai Lin Today Online 6 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE - He has been pumping water over his fish ponds to increase oxygen levels for his fish. His workers have also been busy removing the dead fish to prevent the healthy ones from falling sick.

But what Mr David Sim needs most for his fish now is sunshine. The fish farmer told MediaCorp: "I hope that the wet weather will stop or the plankton will continue to multiply."

Mr Sim's farm is one of 20 fish farms off Pasir Ris Beach and around Pulau Ubin that has been affected by the plankton bloom that started more than 10 days ago.

According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), the farms have lost about 300,000 fish.

Fish farmers told MediaCorp that the water quality has improved and that relatively fewer fish are dying in recent days. But they have yet to assess the extent of their financial losses and are hoping that the water will clear up soon for them to restart business.

Madam Rosemary Lau, who owns a fish farm in Pulau Ubin, said: "The affected fish farms are documenting their losses and planning to ask the Government if they can help, like giving us financial aid or fish fry to start farming again."

With half of her fish dead, Mdm Lau estimated her loss to be in tens of thousand of dollars.

When asked if AVA has any plans to help the affected fish farms, a spokesman told MediaCorp: "AVA will work with the affected farmers to see how we can help them through this situation."

Amid the plankton bloom, AVA officers are now on site daily to monitor the water condition.

The spokesman explained that the plankton bloom is caused by a combination of factors: Sudden shift in weather between bouts of sunshine and heavy rain; nutrients from the land washed into the sea by the rain; and little water exchange from rising and ebbing tides.

He added: "Farming, especially in the sea, is subject to the vagaries of weather and environmental changes ... "

"It is therefore important to adopt good farming practices, including preventive measures to minimise fish kills during incidents of plankton bloom."

These include not over-stocking the net cages and if a plankton bloom occurs, using aerators and pumps to disperse the plankton bloom and increase oxygen in the water.

Fish farmer Annamalai Arumugam, for one, is planning to build an extra pipeline to better circulate the water for his new fish fry that will arrive in two weeks time.

"We can also try to diversify and rear fish species that eat plankton like the milkfish," the 35-year-old said.

Mr Arumugam, who has lost 3,000 fish, is hopeful that the bad times will be over soon.

"I think that the water will be fine after mid-January because the monsoon season would have come to an end," he said.

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