Exporting fish still a key component of local fish production?

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.

Oiled East Coast shore: seagrasses still there, corals mostly dead

A tiny team do the monthly check on this shore which was not cleaned after it was impacted by the 400tonne Pasir Panjang oil spill on 14 Jun 2024. It was also probably impacted by the recent 5 tonnes Changi East oil overspill 28 Oct 2024.

Oil is still present in the canal, seagrasses are still growing lush, corals remain mostly dead. But there are still signs of life everywhere on the shore.

Cyrene still alive!

Although Cyrene lies in the middle of an industrial triangle, it still has some of Singapore's most amazing shores.

Today, we saw a lot of dugong feeding trails, many Knobbly sea stars, 2 Giant clams and more. It was a relief to see that most of the corals seem to have survived the mass coral bleaching. Kelvin also flew the drone for a more comprehensive view of the reef flat.

Pulau Semakau (South) returns to life?

After a heavy downpour, we survey the living shores next to the Landfill at Pulau Semakau South.

The seagrasses seem more lush - with signs of dugong feeding trails! A patch of healthy branching corals are forming, corals seemed to have survived mass coral bleaching. And the field of Horse mussels that infested the area seem to have totally disappeared. Perhaps the closure of the fish farm had something to do with this?

Recent oil spills discussed in Parliament, 11 Nov 2024

Recent oil spills were discussed in Parliament. 

Related blog posts

• Changi overflow oil spill, 28 Oct 2024 - 5 tonnes
• Oil spill from Bukom refinery, 20 Oct 2024  - 30-40 tonnes
• Pasir Panjang Terminal oil spill, 14 Jun 2024 - 400 tonnes

Full media articles follows

Second Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey

The second Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey: One of the objectives is to establish a biodiversity baseline of local key marine areas that may be impacted by future developments, such as land reclamation and coastal protection against sea-level rise.

To study the coral’s “cryptobiome”- cryptic life living inside a coral reef, 42 units have been anchored to the seafloor with stakes at Raffles Lighthouse, Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, St John’s and Kusu islands, Pulau Semakau, and two sites near Pulau Hantu.