Eliminating the ‘Black-chinned Tilapia’ requires a combination of methods.

Bangkok, A lecturer from the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University revealed that reducing the number of black-chinned tilapia requires a combination of methods, emphasizing that methods must be selected appropriately based on the severity of the outbreak in order to reduce the impact on other aquatic animals. As for research on fish sterilization, it will take time to see results. Mr. Wirakit Charaket, Head of Samut Songkhram Fisheries Research Station, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, said that the measure to eliminate black-chinned tilapia requires a combination of methods. In addition, it must be selected according to the severity of the outbreak by assessing each water source to reduce the side effects that will occur to other aquatic animals and the ecosystem. At the same time, an example of using highly efficient fishing equipment to catch black-chinned tilapia to be used as both human food and animal food will inevitably include other fish and aquatic animals. As for releasing pred atory fish such as sea bass, sea bass does not only eat black-chinned tilapia, but also eats other aquatic animals. Therefore, it is very important to assess the severity of the outbreak in each water source. In degraded water sources where the black-chinned tilapia has eaten other aquatic animals until it became the dominant species in that water source, high-performance fishing gear can be used to capture them so that their numbers can be reduced quickly and then restored to restore the ecological balance. For the Fisheries Department's research project to control the breeding of black-chinned tilapia using genetic principles to obtain sterile fish, it is expected that it will be an application of the existing method of sterilizing economic fish to reduce the breeding of black-chinned tilapia. Fish sterilization that is widely practiced, such as in Nile tilapia, is to reduce sexual maturity, which will make the fish grow faster. The Fisheries Department's research to obtain black-chinned tilapia with a sp ecial chromosome set that is sterile and then release them into water sources to mate with normal black-chinned tilapia to obtain sterile offspring is therefore research that is theoretically possible. However, whether it will reduce the black-chinned tilapia population to a level that does not cause impact within 3 years is still unclear because it is a method that has never been used to eliminate invasive alien aquatic animals before. Therefore, it must be done in conjunction with other methods to reduce the number. Mr. Weerakit said that the black-chinned tilapia is an invasive aquatic animal that is the most severe invasive in the Thai aquatic ecosystem, compared to other invasive aquatic animals that have entered the ecosystem. Once the Aliean Spicies enter the ecosystem, it is very difficult to completely eliminate them, such as the sucker fish that is still found in Thailand. Mr. Weerakit emphasized that in determining the method to eliminate the black-chinned tilapia, the same method cannot be used for all. Research must be conducted to select the most appropriate method so that the ecosystem does not become unbalanced and cause repeated problems. In addition, the social context must be taken into account. If predatory fish such as sea bass are released, the community may agree on a period of time to stop catching aquatic animals so that the sea bass can eat the young of the black-chinned tilapia, and then determine a time when the catching of aquatic animals can begin again. There must also be measures to restore water sources, which is another way to alleviate the impact. Source: Thai News Agency