PUTRAJAYA: Tilapia fish in Malaysia are safe to eat because breeders adhere to Good Aquaculture Practices (GAqP) as issued by the Department of Fisheries (DOF).
Director-General of Fisheries Malaysia, Datuk Munir Mohd Nawi said the breeders also used approved pellet feed and the fish were generally bred in good freshwater grounds like in Sungai Pahang, Tasik Banding, and Sungai Como.
“DOF has implemented monitoring at the farm level under the Aquaculture Residue Monitoring Programme and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS Aquaculture) methodology, and have found no feed mixed with hormones and growth agents utilised by the aquaculture industry in Malaysia.
“Until now, 1,059 farms throughout Malaysia have been placed under monitoring to ensure the fish harvested are free of any pollution effects and safe to eat,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
The statement was in response to a viral video clip titled “Three reasons why you should stop eating tilapia”, which claimed the fish were carcinogenic because of use of unapproved feed and growth agents. – Bernama
