Wednesday, June 9, 2010

WWF’s SOS (Save Our Seafood)


The World Wildlife Fund recently produced a leaflet listing down the types of seafood we should avoid, not for health reasons but for environmental reasons. Some of the seafood in our waters has been over harvested for the past 20 years and if we do not contribute to ensure their continuous existence, our children might not be able to enjoy delicacies from the ocean that we take for granted today.

Below is some of the species we should avoid over consuming because their numbers are dwindling very fast:
  • Silver Pomfret (Bawal Putih) – shouldn’t it be Bawal Perak or White Pomfret?
  • Black Pomfret (Bawal Hitam)
  • Ray (Pari)
  • Threadfin Breams (Kerisi)
  • Dorab Wolf-Herring (Parang)
  • Flounder (Ikan Sebelah)
  • Silver Sillago (Bulus)
  • Indian Squid
  • Needle Cuttlefish
  • Mud Spiny Lobster (Udang Karang)
  • Slipper Lobster (Udang Lobok)
  • Most types of Grouper
  • Brownstripe Red Snapper (Kunyit)

Below is the species we should think twice before consuming:
  • Terubuk
  • Timun Laut
  • Jenahak (my favourite L) (John's Snapper)
  • Senangin
  • Ketam Bunga
  • Ikan Merah
  • Udang Putih (Banana Prawn)
  • Siakap
  • Udang Harimau

The following seafood is currently still in abundance, so I guess we can enjoy them as we please, for now:
  • Lala
  • Ikan Bilis
  • Selar kuning
  • Sotong Mengabang
  • Belanak
  • Tongkol (Tuna)
  • Kembong (Indian Mackerel)
  • Tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel)
  • Cencaru
  • Siakap Merah
  • Bawal Emas
  • Kupang
  • Tiram
  • Ketam Batu
  • Kerapu Tikus
  • Kerapu Kertang


What about fish farming? I’m sure they taste almost the same so why can’t we only consume fish/seafood from farms instead of from the ocean? After all we are already eating farm chicken, beef and lamb. The Tilapia (fried crispy) is a fresh water fish but not found in the wild, all the Tilapias sold in this country are from fish farms. I’m sure most of the prawns sold in our markets are from farms too. If I'm not mistaken, most of our Siakap (Seabass) are also farmed. The tasty Patin is definilty farmed, on the banks of the Pahang River in Temerloh. Never buy Patin unless they are from Temerloh!

Maybe we should ban open sea/river fishing and go all out into seafood farming. 

Before anyone asks "what will happen to the poor fishermen? Kesian, they'll lose their punca rezeki and most of them are Malays" (the last part from a Perkasa AJK), let me just say they can be the fish/seafood farmers. 

2 comments:

  1. nombor empat (mah)June 14, 2010 at 1:11 AM

    hahaha... this is a favourite topic of mine... hahahah... dah banyak article saya baca dan tulis, sungguh seronok bila ada orang cerita pasal overfishing... yes i am not the most interesting person.... the fishing industry is very complex... aqauculture is not the answer... need a lot more work to make it work... memang kesian fishermen, sebab kat malaysia diorang among yang miskin... need a lot of support and education... government agencies need to get on to proper management strategies ie. sustainable fishing and tighter control on the fishing activities... oooohh i can go on and on and on......... puts a smile on my face...

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  2. ohhhh pasal fishing... and there i was looking for trigger fish... :P

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