Ghana asked to provide DNA of fish

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The fish source investigation is still ongoing.

PUBLISHED: 3 Aug 2024 at 07: 15

Blackchin tilapia fish caught from Sanam Chai and Khok Kham canals in Samut Songkhram are cooked to serve people at the BKK Food Bank activity held at Bang Khunthian district office in Bangkok on July 19. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)
At the BKK Food Bank event held at the Bangkok district office on July 19 and the Sanam Chai and Khok Kham rivers, blackfish fish bass from the Sanam Chai and Khok Kham rivers are prepared to be served to the public. ( Photo: Apichart Jinakul )

The Department of Fisheries has contacted Ghana to find out if the aggressive bass species ‘ outbreak in Thailand was the result of its cooperation.

The department’s director-general, Bancha Sukkaew, said yesterday the department had sent a letter requesting DNA or some samples of the blackchin tilapia from Ghana, which was the country that Charoen Pokphand Foods ( CPF ) reportedly sought permission to import the fish from for R&amp, D purposes in 2010.

He said the data will be used to evaluate the DNA of the aggressive species found in 17 regions, including Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Bangkok.

Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn, assistant secretary of agriculture and partnerships, said the department received positive feedback after offering to get blackchin fish for 15 baht/kg, which will be used for making fertilisers. He said the government hopes the coverage will help remove four million kilos of blackchin tilapia from ponds and waterways by the middle of next year.

However, the House committee on preventing the fish’s multiply has sought legal counsel to file a complaint against the private business that is alleged to have caused their disperse, with damages estimated at 10 billion baht.

A member of CPF before submitted a report to the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Committee, denying being the source of the problem. It explained that the company requested permission to buy 2, 000 blackchin fish fingerlings from Ghana on December 22, 2010 for R&D functions at its Samut Songkhram breading factory. Some fish died while being transported, and merely 600 reportedly remained. But, all the bass died within three months, the company said. It finally terminated the task, buried all the bass and sent 50 preserved specimens to the Department of Fisheries, the organization said.

Pension stated that it would work with government agencies to assist.

” We aim to remove about 2 million tons of the seafood from the program as quickly as possible, while we will likewise help 200, 000 monster fish to help reduce the blackchin tilapia”, said Prasit Boondoungprasert, president of the CPF’s executive committee.

” I make it clear that the CPF did not cause the epidemic.”

He called for a spacecraft into 11 firms that exported 300, 000 blackchin fish to 17 nations from 2013 to 2016 to identify their nature.