PRAWN production in Temburong district has declined by a staggering 88 per cent over the past 20 years, according to official figures released by the Fisheries Department yesterday.
Fisheries director Hjh Hasnah Ibrahim said from 1996 to 2006, the production of macrobrachium rosenbergii (also known as the local prawn) in Temburong district decreased from an estimated 600kg to 70kg per day, prompting the department to engage a team of consultants to carry out a "rapid assessment" of the situation.
"(This) will be completed in December, and then we will know the outcome and the reasons of the decline in production," she said in a speech during the opening ceremony for the department's on-site training programme for the development of freshwater prawn breeding and larval rearing.
Over the last five years the country's annual freshwater aquaculture production averaged around 30 metric tonnes, ranging from the common carp, nile tilapia, hybrid oreochromis and a few local species such as snakehead, puntius and catfish.
Brunei has about 13 hectares worth of land developed for aquaculture production operated and managed by 118 part-time farmers. About 225 ponds, ranging from 100 to 500 square metres, can be found here.
The 30-day on-site training, held at the Sg Jambu fish farm in Tungku is being conducted by experts from the Philippines for the department's staff to learn the latest techniques and technology used to produce quality freshwater prawns in the region. The Department of Fisheries started a research and development programme on the breeding and seed production of indigenous fish species such as macrobrachium rosenbergii (local prawn) in 1982.
"The government is planning to develop identified sites and provide it with basic amenities such as access road, electricity and water supply ready for the operation of commercial scale freshwater fish or prawn farming," said Hjh Hasnah.
The Brunei Times
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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