Uphill Battle for Fish Farmers

The Straits Times

23 February 2014

Latest mass fish deaths highlight challenges they face as S’pore aims to boost locally farmed stock

Even while Singapore tries to boost the supply of locally farmed fish, the latest mass death incident to hit farmers has highlighted the challenges they face.

It was around Chinese New Year last month when fish farmers off Pasir Ris began to notice something amiss: Their fish were surfacing and gasping. This showed oxygen was lacking in the water.

In a desperate bid to save their stocks, the fishermen harvested what they could, aerated the water and moved high-value fish into mussel nets that would filter plankton and waste from the water.

… Such tank-based farming may mean higher infrastructure costs, but lets farmers control water quality, said RSIS senior fellow in food security Paul Teng.

For food security’s sake, some form of government help will probably be needed to maintain farm production in small, high-cost Singapore, Professor Teng added. “It’s just like military security. You don’t expect returns, you need to secure your borders.”

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RSIS / NTS Centre / Print