Ikan Patin dan pendapatan warga Temerloh menjadi mangsa akibat keracunan...

Kekurangan penguatkuasaan oleh kerajaan membahayakan nyawa dan pendapatan rakyat Temerloh.... Kesedaran dan tindakan tegas diperlukan...

TEMERLOH: Over 500,000 patin and tilapia, reared in 350 cages in Sungai Semantan and Sungai Pahang, are under threat due to rampant poisoning.

Poisoning of the two rivers with a type of pesticide is not only killing the fish population but also hazardous to livestock and humans.

Breeder Mohd Salleh Lazim, 45, said some people had been poisoning the rivers at night and pre-dawn.

“The pesticide can kill fish in five to 10 minutes,” he said. “Some people have resorted to doing this to catch fish during the dry season from June to August.

“A variety of large and small fish will die when ingested with the pesticide,” Mohd Salleh added.

Last week, about 45,000 patin, bred in the two rivers had died of poisoning. Losses have been estaimated at RM100,000.

Yunus Aziz, 34, suffered RM20,000 loss when his fish in Sungai Semantan died four months ago while 3,000 more may die if the poisoning is not stopped.

He hopes that the Fisheries Department and enforcement agencies can stop the culprits.

Breeders fear that rampant poisoning will reduce the supply of patin and tilapia in Temerloh, a town famous for freshwater fish. — Bernama - Star, 23/7/2012, Poisoned rivers threaten fish farms