JOHOR BARU: The deadly pufferfish is still being sold in the market, says the Malaysia Fish Suppliers’ Association.
Its deputy president Tai Wai Sun said the deadly fish is still being sold in the market despite fatalities by eating the poisonous fish being reported in the media.
“I appeal for the sale of the deadly fish to stop immediately to prevent putting the people’s health and life at risk.
“The recent death of the elderly couple from Kluang in March was not a one-off incident as there had been other similar cases including one in Kulai last year.
“The fish contains a substance toxic enough to kill a person when ingested in amounts as little as 25mg,” he said at the Johor Baru Fish Suppliers’ Association 44th anniversary celebration here on Sunday (May 7).
Tai, who is also the association’s Johor Baru branch chairman, added that more than 120 species of pufferfish could be found worldwide but only two types are considered safe to consume.
“The probability of consuming poisonous ones is quite high so it is better for them to refrain from selling puffer fish at all,” he said.
On March 25, Ng Chuan Sing @ Eng Kuai Sin and his wife Lim Siew Guan purchased pufferfish before cooking it for lunch, which caused the latter to experience breathing difficulties and shivers.
The 83-year-old Lim died later that evening while Ng, 84, who also showed similar symptoms, slipped into a 10-day coma in the intensive care unit. He later passed away on April 8.
On a separate issue, Tai said fishermen have been avoiding going out to sea at the end of the month due to the Federal Government’s move to cut the diesel subsidy earlier this year.
Starting Jan 1, the diesel subsidy has been reduced from 20,000 litres to 17,000 for class C boats, he said.
“This has affected our operations because we use about 8,000 to 9,000 litres of fuel for a trip out to sea.
“Each trip lasts around eight days so the government subsidy could only cater to about two trips.
“As such, the fishermen will decide not to go out to sea by the 20th until the end of the month to avoid forking out thousands for fuel.
“This, in turn, contributes to the costlier price of fish in the market, especially at the end of the month,” he said.
