This {photograph} taken on July 15, 2024 exhibits blackchin tilapia fish in a basket after being caught in a canal in Bangkok. Thailand has netted greater than 1.3 million kilos of extremely harmful blackchin tilapia fish, the federal government mentioned September 3, because it battles to stamp out the invasive species. Agence France-Presse
BANGKOK — Thailand has netted greater than 1.3 million kilograms of extremely harmful blackchin tilapia fish, the federal government mentioned Tuesday, because it battles to stamp out the invasive species.
Shoals of blackchin tilapia, which may produce as much as 500 younger at a time, have been present in 19 Thai provinces, damaging ecosystems in rivers, swamps and canals by preying on small fish, shrimp and snail larvae.
In addition to the ecological influence, the federal government is nervous in regards to the impact on the dominion’s essential fish-farming business.
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“From February to August 28, 1,332,000 kilograms of blackchin tilapia have been caught — 590,840 kilograms from pure water sources and 743,550 kilograms from breeding ponds,” Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat, the vice-president of a parliamentary committee set as much as deal with the unfold of the fish, advised AFP.
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“We talked to native residents and discovered that the unfold of tilapia has received worse — they discovered them in small canals, which was not the case earlier than,” he added.
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The outbreak of tilapia will value the Thai financial system no less than 10 billion baht ($293 million), Nattacha mentioned.
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The fish, native to West Africa, have been first found in Thailand’s rivers in 2010 earlier than spreading quickly in 2018, and at the moment are additionally discovered within the US state of Florida and within the Philippines.
In July, the Thai authorities declared the eradication of the species a nationwide precedence.
It stays unclear how the fish arrived in Thailand, however native media studies have mentioned they might have been imported by an organization from Ghana in 2010.
A parliamentary investigation is underway to find out the reason for the infestation, Nattacha mentioned.
The Thai authorities has inspired locals to catch the fish, providing to pay folks 15 baht ($0.42) per kilogram.
It has additionally designated 75 merchandising areas across the nation the place the fish might be offered.
Authorities have launched predator species to seek out the tilapia and are additionally growing genetically modified blackchin tilapia to provide sterile offspring.
A UN science panel warned final yr that the tilapia are spreading sooner than ever, wrecking crops, distributing illness and upending ecosystems.
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Greater than 37,000 alien species have taken maintain removed from their locations of origin, costing upwards of $400 billion a yr in damages and misplaced earnings, the UN panel mentioned.
