350 Tons Of Maninjau Lake Fish Die, Total So 912 Tons

Fish cages in Lake Maninjau, Agam, West Sumatra have died again / PHOTO VIA ANTARA

AGAM - Fish in floating net cages in Lake Maninjau, Tanjungraya District, Agam Regency, West Sumatra again died suddenly of around 350 tons. The total number of dead fish has increased to 912 tons since early December 2021.

Head of the Agam Fisheries and Food Security Agency, Rosva Deswira, said that the 350 tons of tilapia and goldfish belonged to 200 floating net cage farmers spread across Nagari Tanjung Sani.

"This fish began to die from Sunday (12/19) to Monday (20/12) due to lack of oxygen after heavy rains and strong winds hit the area," he said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, December 21.

He said that currently fish carcasses are floating in the waters of Lake Maninjau in Nagari Tanjung Sani.

Previously, Rosva had appealed to farmers not to throw fish carcasses into the lake, so there would be no pollution.

"We have conveyed that fish carcasses must be buried, so that pollution does not occur," he said.

The death of fish in Tanjung Sani Nagari is the second time, because on December 6, 2021, 50 tons of fish died.

Previously the fish in the volcanic lake died in Nagari Koto Kaciak 300 tons, Nagari Koto Malintang 12 tons, Nagari Koto Gadang Anam Koto 200 tons.

"A total of 912 tons of dead fish are spread across four villages," he said.

As a result of this incident, farmers lost around Rp. 18.24 billion, because the price of fish at the farmer level was Rp. 20,000 per kilogram.

"Some farmers are already harvesting fish in anticipation of losses," said Rosva.