Samut Sakhon declares reduction of blackchin tilapia infestation

The Samut Sakhon provincial administration has declared success in eliminating 1,378 tonnes of the alien fish species blackchin tilapia so far by implementing five measures.

The administration announced that the amount of blackchin tilapia in the province has been reduced by 70% so far. It calculated that percentage from the fact that its fleet of push-net fishing boats was able to catch only 100-500 kilogrammes of the alien fish, compared with 10 tonnes a day when the waterways in the central province were highly infested.

The province started catching blackchin tilapia last year when local residents reported the infestation in the province’s canals and bays.

With support from the central government, especially the Agriculture Ministry and the Fisheries Department, the province this year started implementing five measures to try to eliminate the alien fish: catching them, making use of caught fish, releasing hunter fishes, zoning, and awareness campaigns.

Under the first measure, the provincial administration dispatched a fleet of 33 push-net boats to waterways where the alien fish were spotted.

The push-net boats became the heroes in the operations. Push-net boats have been outlawed in Thailand since 2015, but the Samut Sakhon provincial administration allowed them to be used to catch the blackchin tilapia.

The owners of the push-net boats also offered to move to other provinces if their fishing gear was allowed to be used to catch blackchin tilapia.

Apart from using the push-net boats, the provincial administration also organised events for local residents to join hands to catch blackchin tilapia from water resources where the alien fish were spotted.

For the second measure, the provincial administration sought help from fish-meal factories to use caught blackchin tilapia to make animal feed. The Land Development Office in the province also used caught fish to make bio-extracts to distribute to farmers.

For the third measure, the provincial administration has released some 112,000 bass as predator fishes to hunt and eat blackchin tilapia.

Most of the bass, measuring 4-5 centimetres long, came from the provincial administration, and 16,000 were donated by CP Foods, although the company has categorically denied being the source of the infestation.

The hunter fishes were released into natural water resources, including the Tha Chin River.

For the fourth  measure, the provincial administration surveyed 38 areas in the province to map and zone areas where a lot of blackchin tilapia could still be found so that measures could be stepped up to catch them.

For the fifth measure, the provincial administration has been launching an awareness campaign among local people to seek their help to monitor blackchin tilapia and to catch as many of them as possible.