Which leads to my long standing question: Why is Singapore producing fish to export? Basically, if these plans to expand fish production is meant to improve Singapore's food security: Wouldn't it make more sense to first ensure all the fish currently produced are actually eaten by Singapore residents? Before we risk our marine biodiversity to produce MORE fish just for export?
Exporting the bulk of their fish production didn't appear to help keep Baramundi Asia afloat: Video taken on 16 Nov 2024 - Singapore's largest fish farm now lies abandoned with decaying equipment off Pulau Semakau.
New plan unveiled to increase local aquaculture production
Ariel Yu Straits Times 20 Nov 2024
SINGAPORE – A sweeping plan to overhaul Singapore’s flagging aquaculture sector was announced on Nov 19, with the aim of boosting fish production while safeguarding the marine environment, and providing farmers with an avenue to sell their products.
The Singapore Aquaculture Plan (SAP), introduced in 2022, includes new initiatives that will provide farmers with greater access to high-quality fish eggs and the ability to sell their produce to the Chinese market.
Under the plan, fleshed out by Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon during the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit on Nov 19, farmers will also be able to, for a period, tap the intellectual property of new solutions or research developed under the existing agri-food AquaPolis research initiative for free.
According to the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) 2023 food statistics, there were a total of 131 local aquaculture farms – including 98 sea-based seafood farms and 33 land-based seafood farms – which produced 7.3 per cent of seafood consumed in 2023.
News of this plan comes on the back of multiple reports on Singapore’s flagging farming sector. In October, The Straits Times reported that the number of sea-based fish farms had dropped to 74 that month.
“For a small nation like Singapore that imports more than 90 per cent of our food we consume here, we are particularly vulnerable to global food supply disruptions,” said Dr Koh.
He added: “This highlights the need for a local production buffer against global food supply disruptions, a form of insurance to grow some of our own food locally.”
Having high-quality eggs and fingerlings, or baby fish, is crucial to the aquaculture production value chain, according to the new plan.
Currently, Singapore’s fish farms depend on overseas sources, leading to inconsistent quality and higher mortality rates.
To fill these gaps, the SFA said it will introduce the National Broodstock Centre and the Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme under the plan.
These initiatives will help to increase the supply of locally produced, genetically superior eggs and fingerlings, while upgrading local hatchery capabilities.
Mr Mak Wah Weng, 60, director of local fish farm Millenia Farm, said that if the fingerlings developed by the facility are of good quality, it will be of great help to fish farmers like him because the current fingerlings supplied by the local industry cannot survive for long.
Another issue faced by farmers here is the lack of a market to supply their produce to.
To address this, SFA will, under the new plan, help to facilitate the export of six species of locally farmed fish to China. The six species of fish are, namely, the fourfinger threadfin, red snapper, golden snapper, pompano, golden trevally and Asian seabass.
SFA also said it will continue to collaborate with the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (Safef) – which is an organisation focused on improving productivity and farming standards of coastal fish farms – to consolidate demand for local fish and secure longer-term contracts with retailers.
Mr Ken Cheong, chief executive of Safef, told ST that the federation will be signing two memorandums of understanding on Nov 20 with two organisations to boost the Singapore aquaculture sector.
One of the collaborations is with the Guangzhou-based Panyu Fisheries Association, which supports aquaculture farms there, to promote and collaborate in knowledge sharing of farming practices and how to use new technologies in the aquaculture industry.
The other MOU is with local caterer Hewtop Catering to supply it with locally farmed produce such as vegetables and fish.
Another key aspect of the new plan is the effort to balance increased productivity with environmental considerations.
Safef’s Mr Cheong said: “The higher the nutrient load in the water, the less the amount of fish (that) can be farmed in the water. So for fish farmers, protecting the environment is akin to looking after their rice bowl.”
Under the new plan, the environmental impact of fish farms will also be assessed according to a new metric.
The current approach – the carrying capacity model – calculates the number of animals that can be farmed within a defined area, to meet environmental quality targets, protecting sensitive habitats like coral reefs and maintaining water quality.
However, under the new plan, the environmental impact of a farm will be assessed based on the amount of nutrients – such as nitrates, sulphates and phosphorus – it releases into the water.
A high level of such nutrients, which come from fish waste and excess fish feed, can cause algae blooms, which can result in fish deaths.
Dr Toh Tai Chong, senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore’s College of Alice and Peter Tan, said: “The nutrient budget approach measures the amount of nutrients that enter and exit the area that the fish are being cultured in. These nutrients include phosphorus, sulphates and nitrates which are found in fish waste produced from the breakdown of proteins and excess fish feed.”
According to the new plan, some data such as water temperature, levels of chlorophyll, salinity and dissolved oxygen are measured in real time.
Dr Toh emphasised the significance of having such an approach in place to address potential issues swiftly. For instance, if a farm releases more nutrients than allowed, the approach allows for rapid intervention or enforcement measures to be implemented as necessary.
In fish farms, fish feed and waste materials released into the sea are forms of additional nutrients. This influx of nutrients may lead to algal blooms, depleting oxygen levels in the water and suffocating marine life.
In addition, algal blooms can be toxic and seafood that are affected are not fit for human consumption. Such blooms are mainly caused by changing water and environmental conditions, such as rainfall patterns and climate change.
Dr Toh and Mr Cheong are both members of sub-committees that worked on the SAP. The sub-committees are made up of various stakeholders such as industry partners, nature groups, research institutions and government agencies.
Mr Alvin Yeo, 35, co-owner of Heng Heng Fish Farm, said that this approach is good since it can “take care of the environment and help the fish farms”.
“One thing SFA needs to consider is whether this measure will be accepted by older fish farmers who may be set in their ways of rearing fish because it may increase the cost of farming,” he added.
Mr Cheong said that aquaculture, like all farming businesses, is sensitive to costs and productivity.
“So when a farmer wants to bring in more technology, he needs to be assured that his increased productivity can commensurate the costs. At the same time, he will also need to abide closely to production limits to ensure environmental sustainability.”
He added that with the nutrient budget approach, farmers can strive to increase production, while ensuring that the nutrient discharge from their farms does not exceed the budget.
Farmers can then better identify technologies such as water filtration and waste treatment technologies that help them improve production without exceeding the nutrient discharge limits.
