SUCKERMOUTH catfish, better known locally as ikan bandaraya (Hypostomus plecostomus), is an invasive species that has been linked to the decimation of local river fish species.
It is said to have also affected the river ecosystem and been linked to the erosion of riverbanks by burrowing holes in them.
To put a stop to this, Selangor government introduced last September an incentive of RM1 for every kilogramme of suckermouth catfish caught.
SPIA members and Universiti Teknologi Mara student volunteers casting a fishing net in a search-and-destroy mission to get rid of ‘ikan bandaraya’ from Sungai Buloh during the recent initiative.
State infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Datuk Izham Hashim said the state had allocated up to RM50,000 for ikan bandaraya catch, for that specific month.
The effort by Selangor Fisheries Department has been effective to the extent that over 20,000 tonnes of the fish was caught.
Selangor Fisheries Department director Noraisyah Abu Bakar said the department had been given an allocation of RM120,000 this year to continue the programme.
Noraisyah: Our efforts will come to nought if people continue releasing invasive species into our waterways.She advised ikan bandaraya hunters to look out for the department’s event announcement on the incentive.
“Claims can only be made for ikan bandaraya caught at where the RM1 incentive programme is taking place.
“The RM1 incentive will be given on the day itself after fisheries staff weigh the catch,” she said during a recent ecosystem conservation programme at Kampung Melayu Batu 13 in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.
To indicate how serious the problem of invasive foreign species have become in local rivers, she said over one tonne of the invasive fish was caught within two days by department staff and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student volunteers during the programme.
Mohd@Manan with the ‘ikan bandaraya asam pedas’ he cooked for lunch.The search-and-destroy mission was done with help from members of Squad Pemburu Ikan Asing (SPIA), a non-governmental organisation of anglers who caught the fish by casting nets in the river.
SPIA chairman Mohd Haziq A. Rahman, 35, described the problem as a serious one, based on the quantity of the catch.
“The distance of Sungai Buloh (the river), which flows into the Straits of Malacca, covers up to 40km.
“However, our catch-radius in the programme held at Kampung Melayu Batu 13 covered a distance of no more than 100m.
Mohd Haziq showing the suckermouth catfish haul during the two-day programme.“It must also be remembered that the duration of the ikan bandaraya-catching exercise was only 1.5 hours per day for the two-day programme,” he said.
Under normal circumstances, he said an angler would have to wait at least an hour to land a catch.
The fastest would be 30 minutes, if the angler was very lucky.
However, in the ikan bandaraya-infested waters near Kampung Melayu Batu 13, three people were able to net up to 661kg on the first day.
On day two, the catch was 477kg with help from student volunteers and three SPIA members, Mohd Haziq said.
Since last year, the Selangor Fisheries Department has caught about 20,946 tonnes of ikan bandaraya.
At the event, department staff said the fish would be turned into compost.
A Squad Pemburu Ikan Asing team member reaching into a hole in the river bank where ‘ikan bandaraya’ burrow and mate. The hole is a whole arm’s length-deep.
Village head Mohd@Manan Awang, who is an eatery owner, cooked ikan bandaraya asam pedas for the volunteers’ lunch.
One of the volunteers who tried the dish was UiTM Associate Professor Dr Seca Gandaseca from the Faculty of Applied Sciences.
“The texture is similar to stingray, but firmer,” he said.
Although several of the fisheries staff said the meat and roe were safe for consumption (provided the head, gills and guts were discarded), the challenge was in cutting through its thick armour.
The 100m-catch radius for ‘ikan bandaraya’ along the river in Kampung Melayu Batu 13, Sungai Buloh.
Urging the public to refrain from freeing their aquarium fish into waterways, Noraisyah said the Selangor Fisheries Department had released a million fish fry over the past three years in a bid to repopulate rivers with local species.
“However, our efforts will come to nought if the public continue to pollute our waters with invasive species that will destroy the local fish population and put them in danger of extinction,” she said.
