Local barramundi farm scales up with $2 million nursery extension

Cheryl Teh Straits Times 27 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE - Local barramundi farm Barramundi Asia has scaled up its operations with a new $2 million extension to its nursery.

With this extension, the farm expects to increase its fish production threefold to almost 1.8 million fish fry a year.

That will bring the farm's expected yield to 6,000 tonnes of fish yearly, which is more than what Singapore's 120 fish farms produced in 2018.

The nursery, located in the south of Singapore on Pulau Semakau, now has 1,200 sq m more space and the addition of eight giant 50 cubic m tanks.

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MPs ask for easy access to data and a Climate Change Act

CYNTHIA CHOO Today Online 27 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE — Members of Parliament (MPs) called for clearer communication of policies and more support for those with mental health issues on the second day of the Budget 2019 debate on Wednesday (Feb 27).

Over six hours, 25 Members of Parliament (MPs) — including Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and Minister of State (Manpower and National Development) Zaqy Mohamad — spoke on the Budget, which was delivered by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat last week.

The MPs raised wide-ranging issues such as the rising cost of living, providing more support to women and a proposal to ban streaming in secondary schools.

“Health” was the most frequently cited word during the second day of the Budget debate, coming up 157 times. This was followed by “work” and “help”, which were mentioned 81 and 77 times, respectively.

The MPs raised wide-ranging issues such as the rising cost of living, providing more support to women and a proposal to ban streaming in secondary schools.

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Second Johor hotspot detected; fires could bring 'some smell and haze' to Singapore: NEA

Channel NewsAsia 27 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE: Another hotspot has been detected in Johor about 50km to the east-northeast of Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Wednesday (Feb 27).

Smoke from the hotspot, which was detected on Tuesday, was blown southwest by prevailing northeasterly winds, the agency said, adding that it had received feedback from members of the public that day about a burning smell across many areas of Singapore.

In its update, NEA also said that the hotspot detected earlier this week 30km east of Singapore was due to a fire at an oil palm plantation in Johor.

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Malaysia: With drying rivers, Sabah has just two months of water reserves

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 27 Feb 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Water reserves at Sabah’s major dams are at a comfortable 80 per cent – but with eight major rivers having plunged to their critical levels, and another nine to their alert levels, the state has only two months of water supply remaining.

State Water Department director Amarjit Singh said that overall water storage levels at major dams in Sandakan, Kudat, Penampang, Tamparuli, Semporna and Lahad Datu are relatively high – but with depleted rivers at critical levels amidst the ongoing heatwave, the dams’ water supplies are not being replenished.

Residents of several areas are already grappling with water shortages and dry faucets.

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Malaysia: Gebeng fire claims 60ha

nik naizi husin The Star 28 Feb 19;

KUANTAN: A fire is raging across some 60ha of land in the Gebeng industrial area and threatening to spread further as alerts go up around the country in the face of a heatwave.

The scorching hot weather is expected to last until the end of next month.

State Fire and Rescue Department director Nor Hisham Mohammad said firemen from the Gebeng station, with the cooperation from the Gebeng Emergency Mutual Aid team, were on standby round the clock to put out the fire and control it from spreading.

Nor Hisham said so far, only 20% of the affected area had been put out and they had requested aerial assistance from headquarters for the operation.

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Malaysia seizes 3,300 rare turtles in suspected trafficking case

Reuters 27 Feb 19;

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities seized about 3,300 rare pig-nosed turtles on Wednesday suspected of being smuggled into the Southeast Asian country.

The turtles, found in Australia and on the Indonesian island of Papua, are endangered due to high demand from exotic pet traders, wildlife experts said.

Seven packages of turtles were discovered during a boat inspection near Johor on Malaysia’s southern coast, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said in a statement, adding that two people were arrested.

The value of the seized turtles was estimated at 150,000 ringgit ($36,909), the agency said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Feb 19

Unscience the Giant Clams!
Mei Lin NEO

Shore exploration for kids with Young Nautilus
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

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Malaysia: Water reserves at two major Johor dams dip to critical levels

New Straits Times 27 Feb 19;

KOTA TINGGI: The water level at the Sungai Lebam Dam, near here, has dropped to almost two metres below the critical point.

The dam normally enjoys an effective capacity of 14m – but the water level currently stands at just 10.9m, much lower than the 12.7m critical point, Bernama reported.

As such, residents in and around Kota Tinggi have been urged to use water sparingly until the current dry spell ends.

“The dam currently has enough water to supply residents for about 70 days.

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Malaysia: 40ha of Pahang forest, peat land on fire

T.N. Alagesh New Straits Times 26 Feb 19;

KUANTAN: Some 40ha of forest and peat land near the Gebeng Industrial area, near here, caught fire yesterday afternoon.

Thick smoke enveloped the industrial area today as firemen and Gebeng Emergency Mutual Aid (Gema) members worked to prevent the blaze from spreading to the nearby Kuantan bypass stretch and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP).

Pahang Fire and Rescue Department chief Nor Hisham Mohammed said the fire broke out about 2.30pm yesterday and firemen were working around the clock to bring the situation under control.

“The affected area is about 101ha and fire is ravaging some 40ha of land,” he said.

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Indonesia: Forest fires gut 1,136 hectares of area in Riau

Antara 26 Feb 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Forest fires have gutted a total of 1,136 hectares (ha) of forest and plantation areas in Riau Province since January 2019.

The figure showed an increase of 150 ha within the last 48 hours, Edwar Sanger, head of the Riau disaster mitigation office, stated here on Tuesday.

Hotspots were detected along the coastal regions of Riau, such as Bengkalis, Dumai, Rokan Hilir, and Indragiri Hilir, he noted.

A joint team comprising local firefighters, disaster mitigation personnel, and military and police officers were deployed to extinguish the fires.

Water bombs were also dropped from a Casa 12 aircraft of the Indonesian Air Force to put out the blaze that has produced haze on Rupat Island.

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Millions of fish have been dying in Australia’s major rivers

Ruby Prosser Scully New Scientist 26 Feb 19;

Fish have been struggling to breathe and dying by the millions on the banks of Australia’s largest river system. Experts say that without serious change, it will continue to happen.

Poor management, excess upstream irrigation and drought led to three mass deaths of endangered fish species during December and January in the Murray-Darling Basin. These deaths included Murray cod fish that were decades old, according to an investigation by the Australian Academy of Science that was published last week.

Craig Moritz at the Australian National University in Canberra, who chaired the investigation, says the sight of millions of dead fish should be a wake-up call. He described the mass fish deaths as a mainland equivalent of the coral bleaching events that have been hitting the Great Barrier Reef.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Feb 19

Open for registration – Love MacRitchie Walk with NUS Toddycats! on 10 March 2019 (Sun)
Love our MacRitchie Forest

16 Mar (Sat): The Singapore Blue Plan joins Celebrating Singapore Shores at Berlayar Creek
Singapore Blue Plan

Showing our love for the environment @ NUS PEACE Animal Day 2019
Toddycats!

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