A sweeping plan was announced to boost Singapore's fish production while safeguarding the marine environment. While it is good that authorities acknowledge: “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.” And that a new metric will additionally assess the environmental impact of fish farms from nutrients (nitrates, sulphates and phosphorus) released into the water.
Unfortunately, exporting locally produced fish appear to remain a key component of this plan: the new initiatives include "facilitating the export of six species of locally farmed fish to China: fourfinger threadfin, red snapper, golden snapper, pompano, golden trevally and Asian seabass."
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.
