Breeder links fish death to El Nino phenomenon

LABUAN: The rise in the temperature of sea water brought on by the El Nino phenomenon is believed to have killed more than 5,000 hybrid grouper at a fish farm here.
Breeder Chia Hock Chok said the cross-bred fish had been dying over the past one month, and he had incurred losses of more than RM5,000.
The 20-cage fish farm at Kg Lubok Temiang has stopped breeding of the fish since.
"I will have to wait until the weather returns to normal. There is no more fish in my cages now," he said.
Another breeder, Ahmad Zaini Zainal Abidin, said he had to take extra care of the hybrid grouper in his four cages at the popular tourist spot of Patau-Patau 1 Water Village which currently had about 300 fish, including fry.
"The fish are still unaffected by the current hot weather, but I need to take extra care as I cannot afford to incur losses," he said.
Ahmad Zaini was among the breeders here who had received government support through the Labuan Fisheries Department.
Department director Anuar Salam Sulaiman advised the affected breeder to lodge a report with his department for assistance.
"We hope we can assist the affected breeder. As soon as we receive the report, we will conduct an analysis to determine the cause of death of the fish, whether it was due to the weather or water management," he said. — Bernama