Up to 600 tonnes of fish lost to algal bloom: AVA

NEO CHAI CHIN Today Online 5 Mar 15;

SINGAPORE — Up to 600 tonnes of fish belonging to 55 farms have been lost to algal bloom in recent days, said the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority today (Mar 5).

Issuing its first comments on the algal bloom since last Saturday, the authority said last year’s plankton bloom cost 53 farms about 500 tonnes of fish.

The AVA also said it would help the affected fish farmers — who operate off Pasir Ris in the East Johor Strait — to recover and restart their operations, and enhance their resilience to environmental challenges.

AVA’s media statement and replies to queries came after Minister of State for National Development Mohamad Maliki Osman visited two affected fish farms today. One of the farmers he visited, Mr Gary Chang, told TODAY via the phone that he managed to minimise his losses to just over a tonne — or 10 to 15 per cent of his fish — by moving half of his stocks to the farm of a good friend in Malaysia. He enveloped the remaining half in canvas bags and aerated the water in the bags, said Mr Chang, who rears grouper and sea bass.

Dr Maliki said farmers who suffered severe losses may not have taken measures early enough. “Plankton bloom occurences are very difficult to prevent, but it is possible to reduce the impact. Whilst we provide assistance to help farmers tide over this difficult period, it is also important for farmers to do their part to take mitigating measures early,” he said. The AVA is looking to build up farmers’ resilience against these incidents, such as through robust contingency plans and contingency exercises. It will also ask farmers who have taken early action to share their experience with other farmers, Dr Maliki added.

Farmers reported the bulk of deaths to have occurred in the pre-dawn hours last Saturday, and many dead wild fish also washed up on Pasir Ris beach over the weekend. TODAY reported on Wednesday that a laboratory test had identified the algae species to belong to the Gymnodinium group, but AVA said its preliminary findings point to the Karlodinium veneficum species, which has been associated with fish kills worldwide.

According to website algaebase.org, the Karlodinium veneficum has been detected in places including France, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and is known to produce karlotoxin, an agent responsible for fish kills. According to Western Australia’s Swan River Trust, there is no evidence that this species is toxic to humans.

The AVA said the dead fish had gill damage caused by plankton. No marine biotixins have been detected in fish samples from affected farms and live fish harvested from the farms are safe for consumption, it added.

DHI Water & Environment, which did the laboratory test for TODAY, said that the seawater sample tested was examined at a magnification of 400 times. At that level, species of algae belonging to the Karlodinium and Gymnodinium groups would appear very similar. To be able to positively identify the algae species, a genetic test or a microscope with 1,500 to 2,000 times’ magnification would be needed, said Dr Hans Eikaas, head of environmental technology and chemistry at DHI, a not-for-profit offering consultancy and water-modelling services.

To his knowledge, no Karlodinium algae has been found in the East Johor Strait, although they have been found in the West Johor Strait, said Dr Eikaas.

Blogger and marine enthusiast Ria Tan reported seeing dead wild and farmed fish at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Extension, which is near the West Johor Strait, yesterday afternoon. But West Johor Strait farmer Malcolm Ong said there have been no fish deaths on his farm so far. His staff are on alert during this “dangerous period” and have pumps and aerators on standby, said Mr Ong, chief executive of Metropolitan Fishery Group, which is a major stakeholder in Singapore’s largest marine fish farm, off Lim Chu Kang.

On how it was dealing with plankton bloom in the longer term, the AVA said it has been working with the Tropical Marine Science Institute of the National University of Singapore on plankton bloom studies since last year’s episode. The studies, for the development of effective mitigating solutions, are ongoing, it said.

The AVA also called for proposals to design and develop a closed-containment aquaculture system for coastal fish farming last year. It recently awarded the tender to five companies, which will be working on a sustainable option for fish farms to minimise exposure to changes in the environment, such as plankton bloom, said the authority.

Fish farmers affected by fish deaths will receive help from AVA
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 5 Mar 15;

SINGAPORE: Fish farmers affected by the recent fish deaths will get help to recover and restart their operations, as well as increase their resilience against environmental challenges.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) will help farmers take early action to mitigate the impact of plankton bloom by putting in place robust contingency plans. It is also working with external agencies, companies and experts to look into possible solutions to minimise the impact of plankton bloom in the long term.

It recently contracted five companies to work on systems that offer a sustainable option for coastal fish farms, to minimise exposure to environmental changes.

Last month, many local farms at the East Johor Straits were affected by a plankton bloom that triggered a massive amount of fish deaths.

- CNA/rg

MND facebook post:
Earlier this morning, MOS Dr Maliki Osman paid a quiet visit to two affected coastal fish farms to better understand their situation after the fish kill and the mitigating measures they have taken. One of the farmers - Mr Gary Chang of San Lay Marine Culture Co, shared how quick implementation of many early measures has helped to salvage his fish stock. Since Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) sounded the first warning in January, he had set up canvas bags to hold his fishes or transferred them to other alternative sites. He still lost about 1.5 tonnes of his fish but he is grateful that his situation is better than last year when he lost almost 16 tonnes of his stock.

Dr Maliki also met Mr Goh Khoon Heng from De Kelong, who unfortunately suffered heavy losses because he could not react in time to the plankton bloom.

AVA will continue to provide the necessary equipment, manpower and technical expertise to help the affected farmers through this period of recovery. AVA is also collaborating with experts and other agencies to explore long term solutions to this problem. This includes looking at closed containment aquaculture systems, which they have recently approved five proposals from companies. These systems will help to minimise exposure to environmental hazards, which are caused by multiple factors and often challenging to solve in the short term.

Incidents like these are likely to incur again in the future. AVA will continue to provide support and assistance. Farmers, too, must be prepared to handle such contingencies so as to minimise impact.

AVA TO WORK WITH FARMERS AFFECTED BY FISH DEATHS TO RECOVER AND BUILD UP RESILIENCE
AVA media release AsiaOne 6 Mar 15;

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) will provide assistance to fish farmers affected by the recent fish deaths to recover and restart their operations, as well as enhance their resilience against environmental challenges.

Background

In late February 2015, many local fish farms at the East Johor Straits were affected by a plankton bloom situation. These farms suffered massive fish deaths as a result.

Prior to the incident, AVA had been actively monitoring the situation at the fish farming areas. AVA alerted fish farmers in the area on the 16 and 17 February 2015, to elevated plankton levels and to prepare to take the necessary precautions.

These included deploying canvas bags to isolate the fish from its external environment, early harvest of fish to cut loss, and transferring their fish stock to unaffected areas.

Taking early action to mitigate impact of plankton bloom

Minister of State for National Development and Defence, Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, visited two of the affected fish farms today. He sympathised with the fish farmers who are affected by the recent incident as it must have been difficult for the farmers to see all these losses.

However, he learnt that one farmer who took early action was able to save his fish and minimise losses significantly.

"Mr Gary Chang told me that he started preparing for a possible plankton bloom once he was alerted to elevated plankton levels. He lined his net-cages with canvas and installed a simple filtration system to maintain the water quality. Other farmers also took measures, but unfortunately suffered severe losses as they may not have done so early enough."

"Plankton bloom occurrences are very difficult to prevent, but it is possible to reduce the impact. Whilst we provide assistance to help farmers tide over this difficult period, it is also important for farmers to do their part to take mitigating measures early.

At the same time, AVA is looking into how to build up farmers' resilience against such incidents. This includes putting in place robust contingency plans and conducting contingency exercises. We will also ask those who have taken early action to share their experience with other farmers," Dr Maliki shared.

Dealing with plankton bloom in the long term

AVA is also working with external agencies, companies and experts to look into possible solutions to minimise the impact of plankton bloom in the long term.

Following last year's plankton bloom episode, AVA has been working with the Tropical Marine Science Institute of NUS (TMSI) on a research project to conduct studies on plankton blooms, to enable development of effective mitigating solutions. The studies are ongoing.

In addition, AVA called for proposals for the design and development of closed-containment aquaculture system for coastal fish farming last year. We recently awarded the tender to five companies to develop a more sustainable sea-based farming system, under the Co-Innovation Partnership Programme (CIPartnership).

The companies will be working on systems that offer a sustainable option for coastal fish farms, to minimise exposure to environmental changes, such as plankton bloom.

AVA's CEO Ms Tan Poh Hong said, "The proposals from the companies are promising. We look forward to working with them on the projects. We hope that the projects can bring about significant improvements to boost the resilience of fish farming."

Channel 8 News article
红潮导致我国东部海上渔场大批鱼儿死亡
发布: 04/03/2015 22:26 | 更新: 04/03/2015 23:44
记者：吴俍祥
Facebook
Twitter
Sina Weibo
Email
AddThis
A
A+
红潮导致我国东部海上渔场、大批鱼儿死亡。有陆上渔场因为使用海水饲养鱼苗，30万条鱼苗相继死去。附近的观赏鱼业者也差点遭殃。

位于巴西立第1农道，这个陆上鱼苗养殖场的水，是从500米外的海域抽上来的。回忆起上个月17日红潮来袭时，渔农心有余悸。

鱼苗养殖营运经理林传兴说，“因为速度太快，所以损失的鱼也是很多，估计20万、30万条，10多万新币这样。”

渔场负责人说，死去的鱼苗种类包括石斑和红鲷。渔场如今改用经过消毒的海水。渔场附近的这家观赏鱼业者，本来也是用海水养鱼。

观赏鱼养殖业者陈江平说，“我们就用海盐加我们自己泡的（去离子）水。盐的东西比较贵，从外国进口的，美国中国进口。”

业者说，使用海盐加水，成本提高五成，不过暂时不会转嫁给消费者。另外，有渔场把红潮来袭时成功救起的700条龙虎斑，放回巴西立海域试养。

受影响渔场业者黄靖凯说，“到现在为止是可以活，那个需求还在，我们一停供应，需求可能会掉。”

新加坡鱼商公会受询时说，本地养殖鱼占总供应量的2%到3%，影响不大。再说，从邻国进口的鲜鱼数量充足。

据本台了解，自本地渔场再次出现大批养殖鱼突然大批死亡事故，农粮局从每两个月一、两次，改而天天上渔场采集海水和鱼儿样本，以确保水质是符合标准，而鱼儿是安全可食用的。

- CH8/JK

Mass fish deaths off Singapore coast spark concern
Tessa Wong BBC News 6 Mar 15;

Last Sunday morning, Bryan Ang woke up onboard his floating fish farm on the Johor Strait between Malaysia and Singapore to find nearly all his stock had died.

"We woke up and saw all the fish floating belly-up," he said. "It's devastating."

He was not alone. Hundreds of tonnes of fish - both farmed and wild - died over the weekend in the eastern part of the strait. Fish farmers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock overnight.

Floating out at sea and washing up on the beaches and mangroves, dead sea creatures began to appear, from sea snakes and seahorses to squid and moray eel.

Nature guide and environmental biology student Sean Yap - who supplied some of these pictures to the BBC - said he was jogging along the eastern Pasir Ris beach on Saturday evening when he smelt a foul stench.

It came from what he described as a "mass grave" - thousands of dead fish washed up on shore.

"There were cleaners present on the shore on Sunday morning to deal with the carcasses, but when we returned at night the high tide had brought in a new batch of bodies."

The environmental authorities said the deaths were due to a plankton bloom, where a species of plankton multiplies rapidly, damaging the gills of fish. It can be triggered by sudden changes in temperature, high nutrient levels in the water, and poor water circulation.

Government agencies were unable to provide the BBC with figures, but said they were "concerned" about the potential impact on marine biodiversity and were taking steps to investigate and help farmers clean up.

Mr Yap said he found it alarming that even species such as catfish and burrowing gobies, which are considered to be more resilient, were found dead. The deaths of "invertebrates like worms is also alarming, as it may mean that the base of the food chain is affected," he said.

There have been similar mass fish deaths in the past five years. This time round, the authorities had given an early warning to farmers - giving them time to move their stock into protective nets, activate pumps to keep the water moving or even float their entire farm to safer areas.

Some managed to save their stock, but few had anticipated the intensity of the plankton bloom nor how quickly it would strike, killing the fish en masse within hours.

Several fish farmers told the BBC that rapid development in the western part of the strait in Johor, the Malaysian state closest to Singapore, was one of the factors affecting the water quality.

"The plankton bloomed this fast because the nutrient content in the sea is so high. And where are all these nutrients coming from? Land reclamation in Malaysia," said Frank Tan.

But tiny Singapore has also reclaimed parts of its northern coast, and dammed up estuaries in the northeast to create reservoirs. It has pumped millions of dollars into the fish farming industry to boost its domestic food security.

Latest government figures show there are now 117 fish farms in waters surrounding the island, spread out over 102ha - twice the amount of space compared to a decade ago.

This photo taken on 26 March 2010 shows Singaporean property developer Eric Cheng (L) watching as a worker feeds the fish on his floating farm in Singapore.
Dr Lim Po Teen, a marine scientist with the University of Malaya, said climate change was in part to blame for the blooms, by affecting temperatures and weather patterns.

"But on a local level, you can see the number of farms increasing in the last few years", he said, which is directly increasing the level of nutrients in the water from fish food and waste.

"We need to have very strict controls and improve the water circulation."

This photo taken on 26 March 2010 shows a floating fish farm in Singapore.
Some of the farmers reeling from the loss of their stock were considering moving away altogether to less troubled waters.

"This weekend's incident was the worst I'd ever seen. Everyone is horrified." said Mr Tan. "We may have to relocate now." He said he was eyeing spots to the south of Singapore.

But many of the farmers were hoping to get through the year by restocking with new fry and selling what little they could save of their remaining stock. Said Mr Ang: "We are trying to explain to people that our fish is still edible. We just need to regain people's trust."

Additional reporting by Heather Chen