CPF explains the timeline of the black chinned tilapia, reiterates that it has followed the advice of the Department of Fisheries at every step.

Bangkok, CPF submitted a letter to the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Commission, detailing every step of the import of 2,000 black chinned tilapia from Ghana, from the time the fish arrived in Thailand to the destruction and burial of the carcasses and sending the fish carcasses to the Department of Fisheries, after inspection and following the advice of officials. Mr. Premsak Vanachasunthorn, Chief Executive Officer of Aquaculture Research and Development, CPF, revealed that according to the invitation of the committee to join the meeting with the subcommittee to consider the study of causes and solutions to problems, including the impacts of importing blackchin tilapia for research and development of species in the Kingdom of Thailand, the company explained that CPF imported 2,000 1-gram blackchin tilapia fry, common name Blackchin tilapia and scientific name Sarotherodon melanotheron, from Ghana on December 22, 2010, taking 35 hours to travel. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport, they opened t he foam box containing the fry together with the Fisheries Department officers stationed at the quarantine checkpoint and found that there were many dead fry. When the fry arrived at the farm, they inspected and separated them and found that only 600 fry were left alive, which were not in good health. Therefore, the fry that were still alive were put into the cement pond because the fish were not in good health. The fry died continuously every day. When it was seen that the remaining fish were not in good condition and the quantity was not enough for research, a telephone call was made to consult an official from the Fisheries Department (at that time there were 4 fisheries academics) in the Freshwater Biodiversity Group, who was the responsible person whose name was listed in the import approval letter. The official informed us to collect samples in jars, soak them in formalin, and to bring them to the Fisheries Department. Therefore, in the second week of receiving the fish, a sample of 50 was collected an d preserved in concentrated formalin to be kept as evidence. On January 6, 2011 (3rd week), as the number of fish gradually died, leaving only 50 fish, the company decided not to start the project and terminated all research. All the fish fry were destroyed by adding chlorine to the water in the cement pond to kill germs and destroy the remaining fish fry. After that, all the fish fry were soaked in concentrated formalin for 24 hours and buried with lime on January 7, 2011. The total time that this batch of fish fry lived in Thailand was only 16 days. The company informed the Fisheries Department about the fish fry's death and destroyed the fish fry's remains as advised by the said Fisheries Department official. The company sent samples of 50 whole fish fry preserved in formalin, 2 bottles, 25 fish per bottle, to 'Khun Siriwan' at the Fisheries Department. On January 6, 2011, she traveled to the Fisheries Department and called the same official to inform her about delivering the 2 bottles of pickled fish fry samples. The official assigned another official to come down and receive the samples on her behalf on the 1st floor of the Chulabhorn Building, Fisheries Department. The official did not ask the company representative to fill out any forms, leading to the understanding that the delivery was complete. Seven years later, in 2017, there was information from the Human Rights Commission that there was an outbreak of black-chinned tilapia in Samut Songkhram. Therefore, the Department of Fisheries visited the Yi San farm in Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province on August 1, 2017. However, the officers from the Department of Fisheries did not find any black-chinned tilapia in the farm pond. Therefore, they asked to sample the fish in the reservoir connected to the natural water source instead. The farm's reservoir R2 is not part of the farm pond, but is connected to the natural water source to wait for filtering and disinfecting before using the water in the farm. The water reservoir is a part that connects to the natural water source. Therefore, fish that are in the natural water source will be in the water reservoir because it is the same water source and has not yet entered the breeding system. Therefore, it is not strange that the fish in the water reservoir are the same type as the fish in the natural water source. Comparing whether they are the same type of fish or not is a hypothesis that the answer is known from the beginning that they are the same type of fish because they come from the same natural water source. Mr. Premsak reiterated that the company has not researched or raised black chin tilapia since January 2011. Although the company is confident that it is not the cause of the outbreak, it is not indifferent and is ready to cooperate with the government sector in alleviating the suffering of the people. Therefore, the organization's potential has been used to drive 5 important projects, including: Collaborating with the Department of Fisheries to purchase black-chinned tilapia from every province in the country where there is an outbreak, totaling 2,000,000 kilograms at a price of 15 baht per kilogram. Support the release of 200,000 predatory fish into water sources in accordance with the Fisheries Department's guidelines. Support fishing activities by providing fishing equipment and manpower in all problem areas. Collaborating with 3 educational institutions: Kasetsart University, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), and Khon Kaen University, to develop food products from black chinned tilapia. Collaborate with experts from Kasetsart University and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) to find a long-term way to control the black chin tilapia population. Source: Thai News Agency