Bangkok, The Ministry of Agriculture has launched the operation to “eliminate the black-chinned tilapia in Bangkok” and has opened 75 purchasing points in 17 provinces. “Attakon” has declared war on the black-chinned tilapia, stating that the number of black-chinned tilapia must decrease in the next 3 months.
Mr. Atthakorn Sirilathayakorn, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, presided over the opening of the operation to eliminate black-chinned tilapia in the Bangkok area and listened to the suffering of the villagers at the Agricultural Productivity Improvement Learning Center in Saem Dam Subdistrict, Khlong Ko Pho, Bang Khun Thian District, Bangkok, after the discovery of the spread of black-chinned tilapia, which caused suffering to shrimp farmers and fishermen who make a living in the area.
Mr. Atthakorn said that from the situation of the spread of the black-chinned tilapia that has expanded rapidly into water sources in a wide area, the Ministry of Agriculture has urged relevant agencies t
o jointly solve the problem to alleviate the suffering of the people. Most recently, on July 30, 2024, the Cabinet approved the action plan to solve the spread of the black-chinned tilapia 2024-2027, consisting of 7 measures as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture to solve the black-chinned tilapia problem using a budget framework of 450 million baht, consisting of:
Control and eliminate the black chin tilapia in all water sources where outbreaks are found by catching it from natural water sources with efficient fishing equipment and eliminating it from breeding ponds with tea waste.
Eliminate black-chinned tilapia in natural water sources by continuously releasing predatory fish and releasing predatory fish as appropriate to the water source, no less than 5 million in the target areas of 16 provinces.
Utilization of black chin tilapia removed from the ecosystem, such as processing (fermented water)
Survey and monitor the distribution of black chin tilapia populations in buffer zones.
Create knowledge
, awareness and participation in elimination, create a guide for citizens and officials to cope with the outbreak.
Develop research and innovation in fisheries by inducing chromosomes / using pheromones and colored lights to make black chinned tilapia group together for easier catching
and 7. Restoring the ecosystem by surveying various water sources to see what local aquatic animals used to be there, then breeding them to release them back to restore the ecosystem.
Today is the first day of measures to eradicate the black-chinned tilapia, which the government has agreed to in principle. What the Ministry of Agriculture can do right away is to launch a war on the black-chinned tilapia after going to the areas to listen to opinions from people in 16 provinces where the black-chinned tilapia outbreak has occurred, and today there are 17 provinces, including listening to opinions from the Thai Fisheries Association and local fisheries, which have been compiled into 7 measures.
‘Urgent measures include cooper
ation with the area to urgently eliminate black-chinned tilapia from water sources, especially natural water sources. Although some black-chinned tilapia have been eliminated from water sources in the past, when compared to the amount of spawning every 22 days, it is believed that there are still many black-chinned tilapia in natural water sources. In this Bang Khun Thian area, it is considered the first area that I, who have been directly assigned by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives to chair the operation to solve the black-chinned tilapia problem, from today until the next 3 months. What needs to be done is to urgently catch the black-chinned tilapia from the ecosystem as much as possible in order to proceed with other measures,’ said Mr. Atthakorn.
As for finding the source that caused the black-chinned doctor to escape into natural water sources, if the Ministry of Agriculture knows who the source is, it will have to take action. However, I must honestly say that I do n
ot know anyone and do not receive a salary from any company. I myself receive a salary through the Office of the Prime Minister, and every baht and satang comes from the people’s taxes. Therefore, when I was assigned to do this, I would not rely on anyone’s policies except the Prime Minister’s policies and the policies of Lt. Col. Thammanat Prompao only.
In addition, the Department of Fisheries has integrated with the Department of Land Development to take the captured black-chinned tilapia to produce organic fermented water. The Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) has provided a budget of 50 million baht to purchase black-chinned tilapia in areas with outbreaks in 17 provinces, totaling 75 locations. It was confirmed that the budget of the RAOT is not related to the fund to assist rubber farmers and is a separate budget from the 450 million baht that the Cabinet approved for the eradication of black-chinned tilapia on Tuesday.
‘The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has held an internal meeting with
all 22 departments of the ministry and has concluded that it will not leave the Fisheries Department alone. We are happy to help the other 21 departments that are ready. Therefore, we have set the framework from the beginning to use the funds of the Rubber Authority of Thailand, 50 baht, to help our brothers and sisters. This amount of money is separate from the fund used to manage and help our brothers and sisters, rubber farmers, when problems arise,’ said Mr. Atthakorn.
Source: Thai News Agency