Bangkok, The Fisheries Department is preparing to set up a point to purchase black-chinned tilapia next week, following the order of Lt. Col. Thammanat, with the committee to solve the problem of the spread of black-chinned tilapia resolving to purchase at a price of 15 baht/kg. As for the sample of fish from the company that requested permission to import in 2010, it was examined and confirmed that it had never been received and was not found stored in the sample storage room.
Mr. Bancha Sukkaew, Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, said that he is preparing to set up black-chinned tilapia purchasing points in 16 provinces where outbreaks have been found, in accordance with the order of Lt. Col. Thammanat Prompao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, who wants to urgently resolve the problems of farmers raising aquatic animals and reduce the impact on the ecosystem. The meeting of the committee to solve the problem of the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia at the ministry level, chaired by
Mr. Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, approved urgent measures to solve the problem by having farmers raising aquatic animals, local fishermen, and the general public catch black-chinned tilapia to sell for various uses, with a purchase price set at 15 baht/kg. According to Lt. Col. Thammanat, who informed the meeting that he had discussed with the Prime Minister that he would use the central budget to purchase, but while waiting for the central budget, he discussed with the Rubber Board of Thailand that he would use the budget from the Rubber Plantation Aid Fund to purchase for use as fertilizer to increase the public’s motivation to participate in controlling and eliminating black-chinned tilapia in every water source where outbreaks have been found. Other measures to eliminate black-chinned tilapia will be implemented in parallel.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Thammanat emphasized that he will not buy black-chinned tilapia that has been illegally bred because it is an inva
sive aquatic animal that is prohibited by law from being possessed. He ordered the Department of Fisheries to coordinate with the provinces to set up purchasing points within the next week. Currently, there is an outbreak in 16 provinces, which is an outbreak in 14 provinces and a buffer zone of 2 provinces: Chanthaburi, Rayong, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan, Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Songkhla, Trat, and Chonburi. Each province has a working group to solve the problem of the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia at the provincial level to expedite the implementation of the resolution of the meeting of the ministerial committee. The provincial committee will review the details of the plan to prevent and eliminate black-chinned tilapia, including the budget to be appropriate for the problems in each area.
Regarding the social trend that raised questions about the origin of the severe outbreak of the black-chinned til
apia, along with wanting the Fisheries Department to examine the genetics of the black-chinned tilapia that was spreading to see if it matched the black-chinned tilapia that the private sector had requested permission to import in 2010, Mr. Bancha stated that this type of fish originated in Africa. A company legally requested permission to import it into Thailand for research and breeding. It was imported through the Suvarnabhumi Aquatic Animal Inspection Checkpoint and taken for research in Samut Songkhram Province. At that time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives issued a Royal Decree prohibiting the importation of certain aquatic animals into the Kingdom in 2004, with the objective of inspecting the hygiene of aquatic animals that were brought into the Kingdom, both living and non-living, in order to control aquatic animal diseases.
Later, the company canceled the research and did not inform the Department of Fisheries to arrange for the destruction of samples according to the conditions set by
the Department of Fisheries in 2017, when the outbreak was found. From the inspection of the company’s farm area, the Department of Fisheries officials were informed that all samples had been destroyed by burying.
According to the news report that the Fisheries Department sent officials to receive 50 samples of black chinned tilapia for research from the said company at the farm, which contained pickled fish carcasses in sample bottles, 25 fish per bottle, the Fisheries Department has checked the documents or evidence of sample receipt in the sample registration book and the database in the system since the import until 2011 and has not found any evidence of receiving the samples and sample bottles.
The Minister of Agriculture has urgently ordered the Department of Fisheries to appoint a working group to investigate the facts regarding the spread of the black-chinned tilapia. If the Department of Fisheries finds any additional evidence, it will expedite the investigation process to find the facts so that th
ey are clear to society.
Currently, the black-chinned tilapia is one of the 13 species of alien aquatic animals that are prohibited from being imported, exported, brought in transit, bred or possessed, unless receiving a permit from the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries as announced by the Department of Fisheries to prevent the invasion of alien aquatic animals under Sections 64 and 65 of the Fisheries Act B.E. 2558 and its amendments. The penalty is specified in Section 144 that anyone who violates Section 65, paragraph two, shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than one million baht, or both. In the case where the offender releases aquatic animals in an aquatic animal trap, he shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding two years or fined not more than two million baht, or both.
In addition, the import permit application must pass the academic opinion review by the Department of Fisheries’ Institutional Biodiversity and Safety Committee (IBC). Once the import per
mit has been granted, the Department of Fisheries’ Aquatic Animal Quarantine Officer will inspect and control the import of the aquatic animals until they reach the authorized testing site.
The Fisheries Act of 2015, currently in use, is a law with the intention of giving importance to the conservation of biodiversity.
Therefore, it can be seen that the Ministry of Agriculture, through the Department of Fisheries, has continuously improved the law to maintain the ecological balance.
When all these measures are implemented and the black chin tilapia begin to decrease in number, the Department of Fisheries will accelerate the restoration of the ecosystem by releasing native Thai fish species found in the original ecosystem, establishing conservation zones to restore diversity, and creating community networks to conserve and maintain the ecosystem, including monitoring and reporting incidents to return native Thai fish to natural water sources, creating ecological balance and creating sustainability of natura
l resources in Thailand’s water sources.
At the press conference, the Department of Fisheries organized an exhibition of menus made from black chin tilapia, including Khanom Jeen Namya, Kua Kling, Fried Sun-dried Fish, Chu Chee, Tom Yum, and Tod Mun. The Director-General of the Department of Fisheries stated that it can be used to make fish sauce and fermented fish. The Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives announced that he will coordinate with farmer groups in the Northeast to purchase it to make fermented fish. However, some restaurants have started using black chin tilapia in their food. The fish meat is white and appetizing, has only one central bone, no bones in the meat, and tastes better than Nile Tilapia.
Source: Thai News Agency