The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives plans to spend 450 million baht of its annual budget on dealing with the spread in watercourses of Blackchin tilapia, a non-indigenous species of fish from Africa, a significant problem which is expected to be resolved within four years, according to Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao.
Thammanat said today that the Fisheries Department has been trying to contain the spread of the species for several years already, but without success due to a lack of cooperation from the public and private sectors.
He said that the Fisheries Department has now invited several stakeholders, including representatives of fishermen, fish and shrimp farmers, for discussions over improved measures to deal with the problem.
These include a catch and destroy campaign to reduce the population of in Blackchin tilapia the country’s watercourses, with a target to catch four million kilogrammes of the fish by the middle of next year, the release of predatory fish species, such as Asian seabass, to eliminate Blackchin tilapia fry, turning the caught fish into bio compost, animal feed and fermented fish, educating members of the public about how to monitor the volume of the fish in watercourses in their communities and how to prevent them from spreading, and sterilization of the fish to prevent them from breeding.
Government Spokesman Chai Wacharonke said today that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is well aware that the government is duty-bound to deal with the Blackchin tilapia problem, even though it began under previous governments.
