Amanda Lee Today Online 24 Jul 14;
SINGAPORE — The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is asking for fish farms and related companies to come forward to propose their ideas to develop better farm systems to withstand against adverse environment conditions.
Speaking at the opening of Lorong Halus Jetty today (July 24), Minister of State for National Development and Defence Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman said the AVA has received S$1.25 million from the Co-Innovation Partnership (or CI Partnership) to develop a “more sustainable sea-based farming system”.
“The CI Partnership encourages companies to co-develop innovative solutions with the Government,” said Dr Maliki. “With this funding, AVA will work with the fish farms and related companies to develop a closed containment aquaculture system”.
The system, Dr Maliki said, can help fish farms “mitigate against adverse environmental conditions”. The AVA is requesting for proposals at the end of next month.
Dr Maliki also said the AVA is extending help given to fish farmers in the wake of the massive fish deaths in February. The mass deaths are said to have been caused by a plankton bloom — brought on by hot weather or the neap tide — which can drain seawater of oxygen.
A neap tide is when the difference between high and low tides is at its lowest, leading to poor water exchange.
The AVA has devised an assistance package that co-founds 70 per cent of the cost of restocking the fish farms with fry, and 70 per cent of the purchase of equipment to deal with similar incidents in the future.
Dr Maliki revealed that almost all of the affected farms have taken up the package and more than 90 per cent are in the process of restocking their farms. The AVA’s funding support which was originally schedule to end next month will be extended till December as some fish farmers have requested for more time to purchase fry and equipment.
Official opening of the Lorong Halus jetty, July 24, 2014
In efforts to build on local production capacity, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has developed a jetty in the east to help fish farmers. Minister of State for National Development and Defence, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, graced the opening of the Lorong Halus jetty, and had a go at operating a lorry's mechanic crane arms. He also spoke to some of the fish farmers who were consulted during the project. Construction of the concrete platform, the floating jetty platform and other facilities was a year-long project that cost S$3.85 million.
Video: Christie Yeo
AVA seeks ideas for better farming systems
S$1.25 million funding aims to boost sustainable fish production in Singapore
Amanda Lee Today Online 25 Jul 14;
SINGAPORE — After February’s mass fish deaths, which has left some fish farms still reeling from the losses, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) will be calling for proposals on better farming systems to help fish farmers withstand adverse environmental factors.
Speaking at the opening of Lorong Halus Jetty yesterday, Minister of State (National Development and Defence) Mohamad Maliki Osman said the AVA has received S$1.25 million from the Co-Innovation Partnership, which encourages companies to develop innovative solutions with the Government, to come up with a sea-based farming system that would be more sustainable.
With the funding, the AVA will work with fish farms and related companies to develop a closed containment aquaculture system, said Dr Maliki.
Such a system would help fish farms here mitigate against adverse environmental conditions, he added. The episode in February had left about 160 tonnes of fish dead in farms in the East and West Johor Straits.
The AVA is requesting for proposals at the end of next month.
Giving an update about the AVA’s assistance package to help farmers who had lost their fish stocks, Dr Maliki said almost all the affected farms had taken up the package and more than 90 per cent are in the process of restocking their farms.
The funding support, which was to have ended next month, will be extended until December, as some fish farmers have asked for more time to purchase fry and equipment, said Dr Maliki.
This would, hopefully, help farmers to resume normal production levels by early next year, he said.
Dr Maliki also urged fish farms to embrace technology, automation and the upgrading of farming systems.
During his visit to the Netherlands and Denmark last month, Dr Maliki visited two land-based fish farms that used Recirculating Aquaculture Systems for fish culture in controlled indoor environments. With those, he said, farms were able to grow fish on limited land and water supply and they were protected against adverse environmental conditions.
The S$3.85 million Lorong Halus Jetty, about the size of half a football field, will act as a new landing facility that is close to fish farming zones in the eastern Johor Straits.
Currently, 63 of 117 coastal fish farms operate in the eastern Straits of Johor with Changi Creek and Senoko Fishery Port, which are the only two approved landing points.
The new jetty will include facilities, such as a floating jetty platform, where up to 28 vessels can berth, and a refuse collection centre for farmers.
During its first three months of operations, farmers will be able to use the jetty without having to pay any fees. AVA officers will monitor its usage and gather feedback to improve the jetty’s operations, said Dr Maliki.
Farmers whom TODAY spoke to welcomed the new facility.
Mr Timothy Ng, president of Fish Farmers Association of Singapore, described it as a “purpose-built facility” and said unlike Changi Creek, which farmers used mostly in the afternoons, farmers could use the new jetty even at other times.
Long waits were also common at Changi Creek, said director of Marine Life Aquaculture Loh Tee Wee, who usually waited at least an half hour each time as the landing point would be overcrowded.
As for chief operating officer of Marine Life Aquaculture Frank Tan, the new jetty would shave about 20 minutes off his usually travelling time.
At the moment, he pays close to S$400 a month for waste disposal services, to use the facilities at Changi Creek and to berth his boats at Marina Country Club.
$1.25m for ideas to improve fish farming
Grace Chua The Straits Times AsiaOne 25 Jul 14;
TO HELP farmers here produce more fish, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is doling out $1.25 million to those who can work with the agency to develop better "closed containment aquaculture" systems that won't be so easily affected by pollutants and bad weather.
It is also coming up with good-aquaculture-practice guidelines for fish farms, said Minister of State for National Development Maliki Osman yesterday.
Closed containment systems are those that shield the fish from the external environment - using floating canvas bags and filtering and recirculating seawater, for example.
"Such a system in a coastal environment can, among others, help our fish farms mitigate against adverse environmental conditions," Dr Maliki said, speaking at the opening of a new Lorong Halus jetty for Singapore fish farmers whose farms are in the eastern Johor Straits.
He added that the agency would ask for proposals by the end of next month, and provide more details on its good aquaculture practices in September.
With more productive farming methods, the hope is to almost double fish yields to 15 per cent of that eaten here, for greater food security.
To this end, the AVA has also installed continuous online water quality monitoring systems at some fish farms; it calls and text-messages fish farmers in case of poor water conditions.
The moves come after thousands of fish died suddenly in January and February after being poisoned by plankton blooms brought on by high temperatures and low tides. Then, 39 coastal farms lost 160 tonnes of fish.
The new Lorong Halus jetty is another step to help local fish farmers, whose 4,200 tonnes of fish produced each year make up about 8 per cent of fish consumed here.
Sixty-three of Singapore's 117 coastal fish farms are based in the eastern Johor Strait, with most of the rest in the western end near Lim Chu Kang.
The $3.85 million jetty offers a higher mooring capacity and is safer than the alternative Changi Creek site, where farmers had to climb a ladder while weighed down with 100kg boxes. It is also dedicated for fish farm use so farmers do not have to jostle with other boats, saving them waiting time.
The jetty, which also has a proper waste disposal shelter, is free for farmers to use for three months. AVA will decide on the fees to be paid after this period and will inform farmers.
Mr Frank Tan, chief operating officer of fish farm Marine Life Aquaculture, said the new jetty cut his round-trip time from 21/2 hours to about 50 minutes.
"We will evaluate and see if it's safer and more convenient," he said, adding that the farm would "definitely consider" a permanent switch.
Speech by MOS Maliki at the Opening of Lorong Halus Jetty
Media release on the MND website 24 Jul 14;
Good afternoon. It is indeed my pleasure to be here today at the opening of the Lorong Halus jetty.
Role of local production in food security
As you know, Singapore imports more than 90% of our food. To ensure our food supply resilience, our key strategy is to diversify our food import sources as much as we can.
In addition, to supplement our import sources, we must build our local food production capacity, especially when there are supply disruptions and export bans by source countries from time to time.
In 2013, Singaporeans consumed about 54,000 tonnes of live and chilled fish, of which more than 90% were imported from 46 countries. Our local fish production of over 4,200 tonnes caters to the remaining 8% of our total fish consumption. The Government is doing our part to help our fish farmers improve their yields. Since the inception of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority’s (AVA) Food Fund in 2009, about $8.2 million has been committed to fish farmers to upgrade their farm capabilities and conduct R&D projects.
Metropolitan Fishery Group (MFG) for example, a local fish farm, is one of the beneficiaries. MFG received about $570,000 for investments in solar powered aerators and water monitoring systems to enhance its operations. The investment paid off as the farm was not adversely affected by the mass fish deaths earlier this year.
Development of Lorong Halus jetty
Beyond the Food Fund, AVA has also invested $3.85 million in this new Lorong Halus jetty to support the fish farming industry. Currently, 63 of our 117 coastal fish farms operate in the eastern Straits of Johor, with Changi Creek and Senoko Fishery Port as the only two approved landing points. Many fish farmers have given feedback to AVA that Changi Creek is not suitable as they have to hoist their fish and supplies over a steep sea wall to and from their vessels. In addition, a ladder is needed to embark and disembark from the vessels, and there are also no proper mooring facilities.
Senoko Fishery Port is likewise not ideal, as farmers will have to travel about 15 km or 45 minutes from their farms to reach the port. The longer distance adds to the farms’ operational cost, although the port has facilities for mooring, loading and unloading.
I understand that since 2011, AVA has worked with fish farmers and the relevant agencies to identify a new landing facility that is close to the fish farming zones in the eastern Johor Straits. Several fish farmers were involved in the design of this new jetty at Lorong Halus, including the layout and types of facilities required. Compared to the Changi Creek landing point, this new jetty will be easier and safer to load and unload goods. It has a higher mooring capacity, enabling up to 28 boats to be berthed at the same time. Besides these facilities, there is also a waste collection centre to help farmers dispose of fish waste properly.
I am pleased to announce that AVA will allow fish farmers to use the new Lorong Halus jetty without any fees during the first 3 months of operation. This will give our fish farmers ample time to make adjustments with their suppliers of farm materials or their buyers. During the 3-month period, our AVA officers will monitor the usage of the jetty by farmers and gather their feedback to further improve jetty operations. I hope our farmers will make good use of this new jetty.
Assistance to affected farmers
The Government is committed to grow the local fish farming industry. Hence, when the massive fish deaths occurred in February this year, with losses of about 500 tonnes of fish, I told AVA that we had to do something to help the affected farmers. Let me now provide a brief update on AVA’s assistance package to-date.
First, to assist affected farmers re-stock their farms and restart operations; AVA has devised an assistance package toco-fund 70% of the cost of restocking their farms with fry, and 70% of the purchase of equipment to deal with similar incidents in the future. As of today, almost all of the affected farms have taken up AVA’s assistance package, and more than 90% are in the process of restocking their farms. Close to 40 fish farms have been successful in their applications to upgrade their farming equipment to include water treatment systems, air blowers, aerators, oxygen generators and water quality monitoring systems.
AVA’s funding support was originally scheduled to end in August this year. However, as some fish farmers have requested for more time to purchase fry and equipment, AVA has extended its funding support till December 2014. We hope this will help our farmers resume normal production levels by early next year.
Second, AVA has stepped up its monitoring of real-time water quality around the fish farming areas as part of its routine surveillance. AVA has installed continuous online water quality monitoring systems at some of the fish farms. In the event of impending poor water conditions, AVA will send alerts through phone calls and text messages to fish farmers so that they can take the necessary precautions to safeguard their fish stocks.
The industry can also do its part in this early warning mechanism. I hope our farmers will look out for one another by notifying AVA of observations of unusual fish behaviour or water conditions. This will alert all fish farmers early, and help all to cope better with any future incidents.
Third, I am pleased to share that AVA has received $1.25 million from the Co-Innovation Partnership (or CI Partnership) to develop a more sustainable sea-based farming system. The CI Partnership encourages companies to co-develop innovative solutions with the Government. With this funding, AVA will work with the fish farms and related companies to develop a closed containment aquaculture system. Such a system in a coastal environment can, among others, help our fish farms mitigate against adverse environmental conditions. AVA will be requesting for proposals by end August 2014.
Adopting technology and automation
Given the challenges faced by our farmers, I would like to encourage our fish farmers to embrace technology, automation and upgrading of their farming systems. Last month, I visited the Netherlands and Denmark together with MND, AVA and representatives from our food fish farming and vegetable farming industry to learn about Dutch and Danish food security approaches and initiatives. Through the extensive use of technology and automation, both Dutch and Danish farmers are able to adopt innovative and creative solutions for their farms to maximise productivity while guarding against environmental challenges.
For example, we visited two land-based fish farms which use Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) for fish culture in controlled indoor environments. This means that the farms are able to grow fish on limited land and water supply, and are protected against adverse environmental conditions. Although there are higher initial investments in their systems and machinery, the farms there are reaping the benefits of higher productivity and manpower efficiencies in the longer term. In some of these farms, we saw only one, at most two, workers operating the farms.
Adopting good farming practices
Besides dealing with environmental challenges, I believe that it is equally important for farmers to adopt good farming practices as part of efforts to improve farm productivity and ensure good quality and safe products for consumers. AVA will be launching the Good Aquaculture Practices or GAP scheme, which is a set of guidelines to help farms improve in key areas such as farm infrastructure management, farm husbandry, fish health management and farm environment management. AVA will share more details on the GAP scheme in early September.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I urge all of you to continuously raise farm productivity and build up your farming capabilities and resilience. To this end, AVA will work closely with you, and will render support, be it funding incentives or provision of basic infrastructure.
On this note, I am pleased to declare the new Lorong Halus jetty open.
Read more!
Posts
visitors since Nov 07