CP Foods denies link to invasive fish

The department of fisheries discovers records of 11 other companies ‘ black-tilapia exports ten years ago.

CP Foods denies link to invasive fish
Blackchin fish, also known as Pla Mor Si Karng Dam, are a foreign varieties that have preyed on crab fry in shellfish farms and other local fish species. ( Photo Courtesy of Panya Tokthong )

The Charoen Pokphand farming company, CP Foods ( CPF), has denied any involvement in the spread of aggressive blackchin fish in the nation.

The Department of Fisheries confirmed that the company was not the only supplier of the bass. According to a review of its documents, 11 businesses had already exported the fish to 17 nations about ten years ago.

The fish were imported for study in December 2010 but the job was scrapped a month later after they became frail and passed away, according to Prasit Boondoungprasert, CPF’s CEO.

” That happened 14 years ago. How does the spread ]of the invasive fish ] have anything to do with us”? he asked.

” We are a huge company, and we have to observe the proper treatments. We have buy papers. However, I’m not sure if anyone else had the fish imported in large amounts. About 50, 000 to 60, 000 fish were likewise exported each year]from Thailand ]”, he said, adding that blackchin fish were raised as ornamental fish between 2013 and 2015.

Mr. Prasit insisted that the business had received documentation from the Department of Fisheries regarding the removal of the bass. He was responding to the district’s say that the company did not send the necessary paperwork.

In Samut Songkhram state, the department granted CPF a permit to trade 2, 000 blackchin fish from Ghana in 2010 for analysis purposes.

Pension informed the organization that the fish had already been buried and had already died within three months of being transported to Thailand.

Local residents later reported finding the mysterious species in provincial shrimp farms and waters before their distribution increased. They have now been found in 16 counties, including Bangkok, Rayong in the East and Nakhon Si Thammarat in the South. Local fish species started declining in numbers as their population increased.

The department’s DNA tests revealed that all of the fish were of the same family property.

Bancha Sukkaew, the captain of the office, said on Thursday that its employees had found that about 230, 000 blackchin fish were shipped by 11 manufacturers to 17 states between 2013 and 2016.

But, exporting the fish was banned in 2018, he said. Because the fish were n’t a protected species, he continued, breeders might have taken them from wild places.

Mr. Bancha added that the ministry had not yet received the documents that the division had requested from CPF regarding how to dispose of the fish.

According to the department, genetic modification will take three years to control the blackchin tilapia, leading to the development of pregnant offspring.

Male specimens may become genetically modified to mate and create pregnant fry, according to Mr. Bancha’s statement on Wednesday. At least 250, 000 will be released over 15 month starting in December at the latest, he added.