“Ajarn Thon” points out that the “black-chinned tilapia” cannot be completely eliminated.

Bangkok, 'Ajarn Thon' stated that Alien Species have already entered nature and are difficult to completely eradicate. What needs to be done is to control the outbreak as much as possible, including reducing the impact on both aquatic animal breeding grounds and the ecosystem. Assistant Professor Thon Thamrongnawasawat, Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, spoke about the elimination of the black-chinned tilapia, which is an alien species, stating that when invasive aquatic animals enter nature to a certain level, it is almost impossible to completely eliminate them. He gave the example of the sucker fish that still exists in Thai water sources or the snakehead fish in the United States. Area management is to control the outbreak as much as possible by dividing the area into 3 zones: the main zone is the Gulf of Thailand, letter A; the secondary zone where outbreaks are found in areas spreading both inland and at sea; and the zones where fish are difficult to reach, suc h as islands and water sources that are not connected to other areas. For the main area, we must focus on reducing the number of tilapia. For the secondary area, we must control it from expanding to the sides. As for the area where fish do not naturally reach, we must control it. Since it is difficult to completely eliminate the black-chinned tilapia, we must try to minimize the impacts on the ecosystem, including aquaculture and fishing because the black-chinned tilapia that enters the ecosystem will eat other aquatic animals, severely affecting biodiversity. When it enters aquaculture areas, it will eat the cultivated aquatic animals. If it enters fishing areas, it will cause the disappearance of economic aquatic animals. Local fishermen can only catch low-priced tilapia. To reduce the number of black-chinned tilapia, we should catch as much as we can and use it for various purposes, such as human food and animal food. The Faculty of Fisheries has invented a menu to save water sources, both freshly cooked and products, and we must find ways to use it for other purposes. There is also a method of sending predators down to deal with them, where the predators must have 3 qualities: they are local fish, useful, and available in large quantities. In this case, foreign aquatic animals will not be sent to eat foreign aquatic animals because this could lead to more severe problems. The point of being useful means that even if the black chin tilapia is not eaten or is not eaten in large quantities, people can still catch them to eat and sell. As for finding them in large quantities, it means that enough fish species must be collected, which could be the source of releasing sea bass to eat the black chin tilapia because the white sea bass has all these qualities. For matters that need further study, such as whether it will eat other fish, how much of the black-chinned tilapia it can eat, which predators are suitable, how dense should the black-chinned tilapia be before the predators should be released? Releasing fish therefore requires caution with regard to side effects and studying the area to be certain that it can be controlled. At the same time, Assistant Professor Thon stated that at this point, it must be accepted that we must find a way to continue living with the black-chinned tilapia and try to reduce the damage as much as possible. Source: Thai News Agency