S’pore Considering Fish Farming To Ramp Up Local Food Production

By
Ashley Seek
-

There’s a famous quote that you may likely have heard of before.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

While Singapore quite literally has many sea-based farms, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are sea-ing even more potential to unlock there.

S’pore Considering Fish Farming To Ramp Up Local Food Production

In fact, they’re looking at the possibility of commercial fish farming in the waters south of the mainland.

SFA said it will identify and lease out new sea-space sites in the next few years after receiving input from stakeholders.

Further details will be announced at a later time.

Such locations include sites in the Johor Straits, where we already have around 108 out of our 110 sea-based farms at.

The other two deep-sea farms are in the southern waters.

However, a study done in the area showed that certain sites in the northern waters are nearing maximum production levels.

But SFA noted that with proper management measures, the aquaculture zones there could see increased production levels.

All of this is so we can work towards Singapore’s new favourite s-word.

Sustainable Practices

Sustainability is the name of the long-term game nowadays.

Worthy of note is that in 2019, Singapore also had plans to produce 30% of our own food by 2030.

In fact, several long term plans have been drawn up in order to ensure by 2030, we would have significantly reached our goal of being more clean, green and sustainable.

Unsurprisingly, this also rings true for sea-based farming plans.

A spokesman from SFA cited the following methods that could be used:

  • monitoring the impact of aquaculture activities on the farming site
  • measures to prevent and control the spread of fish diseases
  • use of better feed

The spokesman said the methods will help sea-based fish farms enhance their business resilience by improving the yield and survival rate of fish.

It also ensured that surrounding waters will not degrade over time, which would affect the productivity of sea spaces.

Protecting Our Waters

I’m sure some of us have been to the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore before or if you’re a little more OG, Underwater World.

And you know how seriously we take marine life.

Expanding aquaculture towards our southern waters could also help save the creatures who live there alongside the farming plans, Mr Stephen Beng, chairman of the Friends of Marine Park community said.

He noted that animals like dolphins and sea turtles resided in those southern waters.

This could also allow for mitigating actions to take in case the water quality deteriorates.

“Considering that the Southern Islands are also where plenty of research and recreation are carried out, studies should also be done to determine how a greater presence of fish farms could impact social activities.”

At least we have some positive fish-related news, especially after the whole salted-fish red packet scenario.

Featured Image: rherecoach / Shutterstock.com

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Ashley Seek
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