The Malaysian government was this week urged to review the aquaculture industrial zone (ZIA) for high-impact projects and stop development of new projects before it is too late.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia) President SM Mohamed Idris said the ZIA was a threat to natural surroundings and contributes to serious environmental problems. He said the economic value of aquaculture exports must not take precedence over the broader social, economic and environmental value of the coastal zones. "Local environment has been adversely affected by the export-oriented mass aquaculture industry," he said at a press conference in his office this week. He said that the current methods of modern industrial aquaculture were all in serious need of reform, as it would severely deplete natural fish and other maritime livestocks.
"The government should halt the rapidly developing industry. They impact coastal ecosystems, affecting that dependant on the natural environment, especially fishermen. He called on the government to focus on the conservation and protection of natural resources to enhance and restore the country's fishery resources. "Food security should always be an integral and crucial feature in the country's socio-economy development policies," said the prominent social activist.
The annual fisheries statistics indicated that brackish water aquaculture ponds cover an area of 7,722.82 ha in 2010 compared with 5,623.69 ha in 2006. An analysis of changes in mangrove areas in Perak conducted by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) showed a 64% decline in mangrove forests from 1989 to 2009.
"Aquaculture development is a main cause of this decline," said Idris.
SAM is concerned with these trends because it entails massive land clearance and conversion, particularly mangrove forests, to build aquaculture ponds. Idris said that lack of legal provisions to regulate the industry was a glaring weakness in the government's policy. For instance, he pointed out that there was no legislation to control discharge of effluents from aquaculture ponds.
The department of environment cannot take action if there is evidence of pollution from aquaculture ponds because it was not regulated under the Environment Quality Act 1974.
He said even though there was a code for 'good aquaculture practice', it was not compulsory for developers to follow because it was not legally binding. He added that the requirement for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for aquaculture projects involving clearance of over 50ha of mangrove forest was not good enough. Idris said the 50ha limit for mangrove clearance created a loophole, as most aquaculture projects cover areas below 50ha and thus had caused serious unregulated environmental damage. He also pointed out that productive paddy fields have also been converted for aquaculture ponds, such as the 1,000-acres shrimp farming project in Kerpan, Kedah.
Idris said that the authorities approved aquaculture projects without consideration for the National Physical Plan, Structure and Local Plans. He cited that under Terengganu's Setiu district local plan 2003-2015, the area where the Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park was developed was an environmentally-sensitive area.
Source: FMT