2024-09-03 09:49:30
Thailand announced on Tuesday September 3 that it has taken in seven months no less than 1,300 tons of black tilapia, an increasingly common type of fish that the country is working to eradicate.
Appearing in the kingdom in 2010, this freshwater fish in West Africa, which is now documented in nineteen of the country’s eighty-six provinces, is destroying ecosystems with a serious consequence on the fish farming industry.
From February to August, 1,332 tons of black tilapia were caught, both “in natural water” what “in breeding ponds”according to the parliamentary committee responsible for combating the spread of this fish. “We spoke to the communities and found that the spread of tilapia has worsened: they are found in small rivers, which was not the case before”reported his vice-president, MP Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat.
national pride
The Thai government in July made the extinction of the species a national priority and encouraged people to fish for the fish, offering 5 baht ($0.42) per kilogram. It also encourages its use.
The authorities have also released a predatory species to try to combat it and are developing genetically modified individuals to give birth to unprotected children.
The species, which is also found in Florida (United States) or the Philippines, reproduces very quickly and destroys ecosystems by preying on small fish, shrimp and snail larvae.
The impact of the spread of tilapia, which has accelerated since 2018, is estimated to be at least 10 billion baht ($293 million), Nattacha said. A parliamentary inquiry is underway to determine how this species arrived in Thailand.
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