KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The Fisheries Department (DOF) will draft new regulations to strengthen control activities of fish release into public waters.
It announced the move today following complaints regarding the release of African catfish (clarias gariepinus) into Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) Lake for a fishing competition organised by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) for the Showtech 2025 programme.
According to the statement, after a site visit and engagement session with DOF representatives, Mardi, and organisers on Friday, several mitigation measures were agreed upon.
“The fishing competition’s secretariat will install additional hapa nets, provide bins to collect African catfish caught during the competition, and disseminate awareness material while carrying out fishing activities throughout the programme.
“Mardi will ensure compliance with the installation of nets, open the lake to controlled fishing activities, and coordinate the inventory and disposal of alien fish after the programme concludes.
“The DOF will also support this effort through the provision of awareness materials and related technical advisory services,” read the statement.
The DOF said investigations found that two tonnes of African catfish — about 1,300 fish with an average weight of 1.5kg each — were released into the lake on Thursday without notification or advisory requests from the Selangor Fisheries Office.
The DOF statement also advised all parties to seek technical advice from the Selangor Fisheries Office before carrying out any fish releases into public waters to avoid negative effects on the environment and the country’s natural resources, as an invasive species can eliminate native fish species.
According to the DOF, the move is also to ensure actions are in line with environmental sustainability principles, and do not pose a risk of invasive species to the local water ecosystem.
— Bernama
