Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 17;
SINGAPORE: Eleven fish farms that were affected by the massive oil spill off Johor more than two weeks ago have been given the green light to sell fish again, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority on Friday (Jan 20).
Fish samples from those farms have passed the food safety evaluation.
The sales suspension remains, however, for crustaceans like lobsters and crabs. Another farm, which only produces molluscs, is also not able to resume business as food safety evaluation for crustaceans and molluscs is still ongoing.
A total of 12 farms were affected by the oil spill on Jan 3 which was caused by a collision between two container vessels off Johor. "Most of the farms in the East Johor Strait have completed clean-up and put up mitigation measures like canvas skirting to prevent re-entry of residual oil," said AVA.
It added that it will continue to monitor the situation and conduct sampling at the farms.
- CNA/gs
Suspension lifted at some fish farms
Zaihan Mohamed Yusof, The Straits Times AsiaOne 21 Jan 17;
Some of the 12 fish farms in the East Johor Strait have had their sales suspension lifted.
The announcement by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) yesterday came in the wake of a collision between two container vessels in the strait separating Singapore and Malaysia on Jan 4.
The collision resulted in roughly 300 tonnes of oil being spilled into the surrounding waters.
As of yesterday, two farms which produced only fish were allowed to sell their stocks.
While another nine farms were given the green light to sell their fish, the sales suspension was not lifted for crustaceans and molluscs sold by these farms due to ongoing food-safety evaluation, AVA said.
Similarly, the sales suspension remained for one farm which produced only molluscs.
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An AVA spokesman said: "Most of the farms in the East Johor Strait have completed clean-up and put up mitigation measures to prevent re-entry of residual oil.
"Fish samples collected from the farms have also passed our food-safety evaluation."
Meanwhile, AVA will continue to monitor the situation and conduct sampling at the East Johor Strait coastal fish farms.
