Invasive foreign fish species such as suckermouth catfish and African catfish have been identified as major threats to Sarawak’s native fish ecosystem.
State Deputy Food Industry, Commodities and Regional Development Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail said their presence threatened local species such as empurau and tengadak (lampam sungai).
Foreign fish species also disrupted the environmental balance and impacted livelihoods of local communities who rely on inland fishery resources, he said.
“Some of these alien fishes are farmed commercially.
“I hope farmers will not arbitrarily release these fishes into our rivers or lakes,” he said in his reply to a question from Datuk Mohd Chee Kadir (GPS-Kabong) during the Sarawak State Assembly sitting in Petra Jaya, Kuching.
Bernama reported Dr Abdul Rahman saying that the ministry, in collaboration with various agencies, had implemented a programme to hunt invasive foreign fish species in Sungai Sarawak.
This effort, he said, was aimed at reducing their threat, raising public awareness and conducting an inventory of inland fishery resources.
To a supplementary question from Mohd Chee, Dr Abdul Rahman said various initiatives were also being undertaken to replenish local fish stock.
“Sarawak Agriculture Department, under my ministry, is actively carrying out a programme to release native fish fry such as empurau, tengadak, lampam jawa as well as udang galah into rivers across Sarawak.
“This is part of efforts to restore the ecosystem and improve native fish populations.
“In Kabong alone, in September 2022, a total of 5,000 lampam fry were released into Tanjung Kembang, while in November 2024, 6,000 lampam fry were released at Rumah Jambu Rantau Sukat Orban,” he said.
Apart from inland waters, efforts are also being intensified to strengthen marine fisheries resources, with a total of 201,972 artificial reef units anchored across 77 marine areas in Sarawak as of last year.
“In Kabong waters alone, 17 artificial reef units were anchored in July 2024 and another 17 units are scheduled to be deployed this August.
“This project is supported by an allocation of RM20mil from the Federal Government and RM30mil from Sarawak government,” Dr Abdul Rahman added.
