Hundreds Of Tons Of Fish Died Suddenly In Lake Maninjau, What's Up?

Illustration - Fishermen pass by thousands of dead floating net cage fish in Lake Maninjau, Agam Regency, West Sumatra (Photo: Muhammad Arif Pribadi/Antara)

JAKARTA - Around 200 tons of tilapia and goldfish in the floating net cages of Lake Maninjau, Tanjungraya District, Agam Regency, West Sumatra died suddenly due to strong winds accompanied by high rainfall that hit the area on Monday, December 6.

Tanjungraya Sub-district Fisheries Instructor, Asrul Deni Putra in Lubukbasung, Sunday, said the deaths of 200 tons of fish were spread in two villages namely, Nagari Tanjung Sani with 50 tons and Nagari Koto Kaciak 150 tons. Nanggai, Jorong Galapuang and Jorong Pandan. "This is temporary data that I got from farmers and the fish came from hundreds of floating net cages belonging to 150 people," he said as quoted by Antara, Monday, December 13.

He said the tilapia and goldfish died due to strong winds accompanied by high rainfall that hit the area which caused a reversal of water at the bottom of the volcanic lake. The reversal of the water causes the remaining feed at the bottom of the lake which contains ammonia to rise up and poison the fish. After that, the fish in the floating net cages experience dizziness and die. "A few hours, the fish carcasses float to the surface of the lake," he said. farmers to immediately harvest the fish and transfer them to calm water ponds, so they don't die because the rainfall is still high and there is a risk for fish death. Previously, the Agam Fisheries and Food Security Service had appealed to farmers to postpone the sowing of fish seeds from September to January. In that month , he added, rainfall accompanied by strong winds has the potential to hit the area, so oxygen will be reduced and fish will die. "We have installed warning boards around Lake Maninjau," he said.