Rampant thefts plaguing cockle business in Selangor

Selangor Fisheries Department officer destroy illegal spikes on illegal cockle at Sungai Besar.

KUALA SELANGOR: Cockle far­ming in Malaysia seems to be getting rancid with thefts plaguing the business in Selangor, just five months after news emerged about ammonia contamination in Perak affecting the largest cockle breeding ground there.

The theft of spats (young cockles) had caused a drastic drop in Selangor’s production of the mussels, with its harvest of 40,000 tonnes annually dropping to 20,000 tonnes in recent years, said Selangor Fisheries Department director Azlisha Ab Aziz.