“Thammanat” aims to raise the level of solving the black-chinned tilapia problem to a national agenda.

Samut Sakhon, The Minister of Agriculture met with the Fisheries Association to prepare to discuss with the Prime Minister to elevate the resolution of the black chin tilapia problem to a national agenda. He ordered the Fisheries Department to discuss with the Comptroller General's Department about regulations and budgets to provide assistance to farmers and aquatic animal farmers in 16 affected provinces. The Director-General of the Fisheries Department stated that the kick-off of the purchase of black chin tilapia will definitely be on August 1. The latest discovery was that fins and pieces of meat collected from black chin tilapia in the importer's breeding pond in 2017. Colonel Thammanat Prompao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, along with Mr. Atthakorn Sirilatayakorn, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr. Bancha Sukkaew, Director-General of the Department of Fisheries, and executives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives traveled to Samut Sakhon Province to meet with r epresentatives of the Fisheries Association of 16 provinces where the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia was found to find a joint solution to the problem. Colonel Thammanat said that he agreed with the proposal of the Fisheries Association and various sectors regarding the period for accepting purchases of black chin tilapia at 15 baht per kilogram, saying that it must be carefully considered when the purchase should be accepted so that no one will secretly breed them for sale. He emphasized that breeding and releasing black chin tilapia into water sources is severely punishable by both fines and imprisonment. However, at present, removing them from water sources is an urgent measure that must be taken. Once they are eliminated, it is seen that they should be put to use as human food, animal feed, and biological weighting to motivate people to catch them quickly, as well as creating added value. He also urged the Department of Fisheries to consider the appropriateness of releasing predatory fish such as sea bass, eel, and snakehead fish, etc., without further affecting the ecosystem, which would lead to a recurring problem. Colonel Thammanat said that he has coordinated with Mr. Chumphon Chaengphrai or "Chef Chumphon" to create a menu using black chin tilapia. Initially, Chef Chumphon has worked with Bangkok to campaign for eating food made from black chin tilapia and will coordinate with the governors of all affected areas. Colonel Thammanat reiterated that he discussed with the Prime Minister to elevate the resolution of the black chin tilapia problem to a national agenda in order to resolve the problem with maximum efficiency, including requesting the central budget to urgently resolve the problem. At the same time, he ordered the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries to discuss with the Comptroller General's Department about compensation for farmers who cultivate aquatic animals who were affected in 16 provinces, to use which regulations and budgets to use. In addition, the Department of Fisheri es must set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the cause of the outbreak within 7 working days, including considering the law, such as whether the Fisheries Act of 2015 contains provisions to punish those who cause impacts on the ecosystem of water sources or not. If criminal and administrative action cannot be taken to claim damages, social measures may have to be used. The Director-General of the Department of Fisheries said that the registration of fish farms to be black chin tilapia purchasing points is now open. 45 locations have already registered and will be registered in 16 provinces. They will definitely start accepting purchases on August 1st. Fish catcher who sells at the purchasing points will get 15 baht per kilogram. Fish farms will receive a fee for handling and transportation to the provincial land development station to make organic fermented water at 5 baht per kilogram. The Director-General of the Fisheries Department emphasized that the breeding of Black-chinned Tilapia is strict ly prohibited according to the announcement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The Fisheries Department has also issued another warning that anyone who violates the breeding of Black-chinned Tilapia will be prosecuted under Section 144 of the Fisheries Act B.E. 2558, with a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding 1 million baht, or both. If released in an aquatic animal fishing area, the penalty is imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding 2 million baht, or both. For the investigation into the cause of the outbreak, the authorities were ordered to investigate all relevant information about the 'black-chinned tilapia' since a company requested permission to import it for research and breeding in 2006. The company then imported it in December 2010 through the Suvarnabhumi Airport Fisheries Checkpoint. It then reported that the research was unsuccessful, so all the fish carcasses were disposed of and destroyed in January 2011. The outbreak of the blac k-chinned tilapia began in 2012 and has expanded to the point where it is now very severe. The latest fact-finding investigation found that in 2017, Fisheries Department officials requested to inspect the company's breeding pond in Tambon Yi San, Amphoe Amphawa, Samut Sakhon Province to find the cause of the outbreak of black-chinned tilapia. They cast nets in the breeding pond and found black-chinned tilapia in the pond, so they collected fin and flesh samples and kept them in the Fisheries Department's sample storage room. Mr. Bancha said that he has appointed a fact-finding committee to find the cause of the outbreak of the black-chinned tilapia, which is an alien species that has invaded the water ecosystem of Thailand, as well as the impact on farmers who raise aquatic animals and fishermen, to be informed of the facts within 7 working days and then report to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Tomorrow (July 23), the Subcommittee on Consideration of Study of Causes and Solutions, including Impacts from the Importation of Blackchin Tilapia for Research and Development of Species in the Kingdom of Thailand, in the House of Representatives Committee on Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, will meet with the Department of Fisheries to receive information to support finding the cause and solutions to the outbreak. The Department of Fisheries will take visitors on a tour of the aquatic animal sample collection room on the 6th floor of the Preeda Building and provide a detailed explanation of the steps for collecting aquatic animal samples. Then, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives inspected the fish farm which is registered as a black chin tilapia purchasing point and has been piloted to purchase. He also observed the purchasing process and watched a demonstration of the production of bio-fermented water from black chin tilapia by the Land Development Department. This bio-fermented water will be delivered to the Rubber Plantation Aid Fund, which provides a budget to purchase black chin tilapia to produce bio-fermented water, which the Rubber Plantation Aid Fund sells to farmers at a low price to nourish rubber trees. Samut Sakhon Province, which was the first province to report the outbreak of the black-chinned tilapia, has taken the lead in eliminating the black-chinned tilapia in water sources and then producing 4,000 liters of high-quality bio-fermented water (high nitrogen formula), which has been distributed to local people, volunteer soil doctor groups, and farmer groups growing vegetables, guava, longan, coconut, and betel, covering a total area of ??over 533 rai. For those who find black-chinned tilapia, please notify the provincial fisheries office or district fisheries office in every area or report clues about the location of the black-chinned tilapia outbreak through the online system at any time at https://shorturl.asia/3MbkG . Source: Thai News Agency