60 Tons Of Fish Dies Due To Extreme Weather, Farmers Of Lake Maninjauamba Rugi IDR 1.26 Billion

LUBUKSAUNG - Farmers of floating net cages in Lake Maninjau, Agam Regency, West Sumatra suffered a loss of Rp1.26 billion. This is due to the death of about 60 tons of fish they maintain.

The Agam District Fisheries and Food Security Agency said the death of fish as a result of strong winds and high rainfall had hit the area since a few days ago.

Head of the Agam Fisheries and Food Security Service, Rosva Deswira, said the Rp1.26 billion loss was based on the price of fish at the farm level of Rp21 thousand per kilogram.

"The fishermen's level prices reach Rp. 21 thousand per kilogram and fish are usually marketed to traditional markets in West Sumatra, Riau and others," said Rosva, as quoted by Antara, Saturday, November 19.

He said the 60 tons of fish belonged to 52 farmers scattered in Nagari Sungai Batang and Tanjung Sani. Currently, the carcasses of the fish are still in floating net cages.

He also appealed to farmers not to throw them into the lake. "I have conveyed to farmers not to throw fish carcasses into the lake, because it can cause pollution in the lake," he said.

He admitted that the loss was still temporary data because field agricultural instructors were collecting data on fish deaths to other areas. He also said that there were still reports from farmers of fish deaths in Nagari Koto Malintang, Maninjau and others.

"Previously the fish in the area were in a state of lack of oxygen," he said.

He appealed to farmers to evacuate live and healthy fish to temporary shelter pools on land, in anticipation of large losses.