SRI AMAN: Agriculture Assistant Minister Dr Abdul Rahman Haji Ismail recently went on a field trip to Batang Ai to see for himself Sarawak’s first pilot lobster farm.
The project was initiated by Borneo Eco Fish Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the inland fisheries sector of Sarawak Agriculture Department with seedlings of the lobsters supplied by Sematan Fisheries Station.
During the field visit, Dr Abdul Rahman released as many as 30,000 lobster seedlings into the nursery cages as a symbolic gesture for Borneo Eco Fish Sdn Bhd to continue the lobster farming experiment.
At the same time, the assistant minister also handed over the Malaysia Good Agriculture Practice (MyGAP) certificate to Borneo Eco Fish Sdn Bhd’s representative managing director Thomas Hii Tiong Kong.
The MyGAP certification is important to ensure that the produce is guaranteed and does not affect the health of consumers, a good system to guarantee the quality of the resulting product in order to compete with other producers internationally.
Besides visiting the lobster farm, which breeds lobsters in cages, Dr Abdul Rahman also visited a caged fish farm operated by a Law Kung Meng. Law rears various species of popular freshwater fish includes red tilapia, carp, catfish and tinfoil barb fish.
The project, which has been in operation since 2017, has a total of 1,000 active cages in Teluk Telaus, Batang Ai Hydro Dam.
What is interesting about the fish breeding project in Law’s cages is the use of the “auto-feeder” system which means automatic feeding to reduce the cost of manpower.
Also present during the visit were the Industries and Investment Deputy Minister and Batang Ai assemblyman Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, Borneo Eco Fish Sdn Bhd’s managing director Thomas Hii Tiong Kong, Land Fisheries Division Chief Assistant Director Awang Alim Awang Kassim, Sri Aman Division Agriculture Officer Mohktar Ali and representatives from the relevant departments and agencies in Sri Aman Division.
