Fish breeders in Teluk Bahang suspend business amid pollution

GEORGE TOWN: Fish breeders in Teluk Bahang will temporarily stop buying fish fry after heavy metal contamination in the waters here.

Breeder Ooi Hye Hin, 57, said many of them have suffered losses due to the sea pollution, which caused the death of their fishes.

“We have been scooping up dead fish daily and that has hurt our income as many of us took loans to run our businesses.

“We can only stop our businesses temporarily until the water condition improves. Even then, we will monitor the situation for a month before getting back to breeding.

“I have disposed of about 13,000 dead fishes at my farm here and have only over 1,000 remaining,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Ooi said he tried to contact fellow fish farmers at unpolluted areas in hopes of relocating his stock.

“But they were reluctant to lend their spaces. Some were afraid their fish might be affected if we were to relocate ours to theirs.

“We hope authorities will complete their probe quickly and let us know of the outcome,” he added.

Meanwhile, state Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said investigations were underway to find the pollution’s source.

Meanwhile, Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) director Professor Datuk Dr Aileen Tan said they will be taking sets of water samples to study.

Tan was the first to find high nickel levels in Teluk Bahang’s waters.