Fish farmers reeling in researchers in Singapore

High-tech methods sought to protect the environment and boost harvests
Grace Chua Straits Times 9 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE fish farmers are trying to move towards high-tech research and farming methods that minimise their environmental impact as the number of farms grows.

The burgeoning industry has been looking to science to protect the environment - for example, by monitoring water quality and cutting pollution - and produce more and better fish.

Much of that is driven by the Singapore Government's food security aims. It hopes to boost local fish supplies from 5 per cent of national consumption to 15 per cent in the next five years.

The number of fish farms has grown in the last few years. There were 106 licensed offshore last year, up from 92 in 2005. On land, there are two freshwater fish farms, and three marine-fish and prawn farms.

In June, three fish farmers installed an early-warning system to monitor water quality after fish died off in large numbers when a plankton bloom struck off Pasir Ris last year. At another high-tech farm, SIF Agrotechnology Asia, young sea bass that are usually farmed offshore are being raised on land using a chemical-free water recirculation system, which protects them from changes in water quality.

The venture by local water treatment firm SIF Technologies is opening a 1ha hatchery in Pasir Ris at the end of this month to rear fish for the local market.

The expertise of aquaculture researchers here is also in demand. For example, a joint venture by abalone growers Oceanus and Australia's Lobster Harvest to produce slipper lobsters enlisted the help of National University of Singapore (NUS) for its hatchery research and development.

NUS emeritus professor Lam Toong Jin said he had been consulted several times in the last year on such research, by government agencies and companies.

Another NUS don, Professor Hew Choy Leong, worked on the world's first genetically modified Atlantic salmon.

Most recently, a marine aquaculture research workshop held here last month was attended by about 40 delegates from Singapore and regional fish farms, government agencies and farm equipment suppliers. The workshop, by Australia's James Cook University (JCU), was followed by a public lecture on environmental sustainability at Australian fish farms. The talk was attended by about 300 participants.

Interest in aquaculture, the farming of fish, shellfish and other aquatic organisms, is growing worldwide. According to United Nations statistics, three billion people rely on fish as a main source of protein. But fish stocks in the wild are on the decline, so farmed fish is becoming an increasingly important global food source. Aquaculture makes up about half of the world's food-fish supply, and is set to overtake wild fish.

Fish farms, however, can cause pollution as fish waste and leftover food sink and decompose, resulting in algal blooms. At the JCU public lecture, aquaculture professor Rocky de Nys outlined how farms can use fish waste to grow commercially valuable species of algae.

For example, a JCU experimental project grows algae from fish waste, then turns it into biofuel. The green stuff can also be used to make cattle feed, fertiliser and even fish feed.

Mr Darren Lee, 25, who manages the Pulaumas Khatulistiwa prawn farm in Pontianak, Indonesia, said: 'It's a major problem. If your neighbour throws out dirty water without treating it, you pump in the dirty water and you suffer.'

Professor de Nys also said exotic fish species can escape into the wild and feed on native species, compete with them for food and spread disease. This can be solved by farming native fish species from local stock and using sturdy cages.

But the journey to better aquaculture research has not been without hiccups. Successful applications to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority's $5 million Food Fund have not yet been finalised, though applications opened last year.

NUS' Prof Lam added that there was not enough research on the impact of fish farms on the environment.