KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will intensify efforts in developing aquaculture to manage fish supply, exports and increase incomes for fishermen and entrepreneurs.
State Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Junz Wong said fish supply would need to be managed sustainably, which remained to be a challenging task due to a high demand spurred by a growing global population.
He said although farmers may prefer harvesting premium breeds of fish for a greater profit margin, it was also imperative to produce a sufficient and varied supply to meet the demands of all consumers.
“Under the Sabah Agriculture Blueprint, we have worked on more hatcheries for different species such as sea bass, variety of groupers, sea cucumbers, seaweed, abalone and some oysters.
“The ministry will be working on more hatcheries, expand and train entrepreneurs and fishermen in the state to get them involved in the programme,” he said.
Earlier, Wong witnessed the presentation of a certificate from The Malaysia Book of Records to Bayu Aquaculture Sdn Bhd here for being the first to successfully breed streaked spinefoot rabbitfish.
Wild rabbitfish used to have a negative reputation as a scavenger foraging at the bottom of the seabed for food.
“Since the fish is now produced in a hatchery and grown in the farm, rabbitfish are fed with quality feed and supplemented by fresh algae growing inside the cages.
“During a recent business matching programme in Singapore, we also found that chilled (frozen) rabbitfish is sold at SGD20 (RM60) per kilogramme.
“In time to come, we will see more of this fish sold in restaurants not only locally but at other countries.”