KUALA KANGSAR: Bumping into a crocodile while catching invasive fish species in the Klang River is certainly an unforgettable experience for military veteran Haziman Amli Hasan.
Haziman Amli, one of the many Malaysians who have dedicated themselves to the eradication of invasive fish species that plague the rivers of Malaysia, admitted that such an encounter served as a reminder that clearing the rivers was not only a hard task but one that could also be fraught with unknown danger.
“At that time, I was with five other friends netting the fishes when I saw the outline of a crocodile that emerged about 3m from where we were.
“It was really a shock, and luckily, the crocodile did not attack. I told my friends to move away and look for another location,” he said at the closing of the Perak Fish Fiesta 2025 at Dataran Victoria here recently, Bernama reported.
Haziman Amli was crowned overall champion for the Perak Invasive Fish Hunt Grand Prix at the event and took home RM5,000 with his haul of 11,901kg of invasive fish.
Haziman Amli, who is the Malaysia Invasive Fish Hunter Squad (SPIA) secretary, shared that anglers like him faced other difficulties besides crocodiles, including water surges, fast currents and nets tangled at rocks, especially when they are exploring previously unknown rivers.
“If it is a river around Selangor or Kuala Lumpur, we are familiar with its currents, but in Sungai Kinta (Ipoh) for instance, we have been hit by a water surge while out on a hunt.
“We were lucky, we got back to land to save ourselves,” he said.
He also expressed pride in his work against invasive fish, noting that he has helped catch over 57 metric tonnes of such fish from various rivers in the country since 2022, with almost 80% of them being of the Hypostomus plecostomus species.
“For me, using a net is more effective as such species move in groups and can be caught by the dozen with each net toss,” he said.
