SRI AMAN, Feb 27: Borneo Eco Fish Sdn Bhd, a pioneer in lobster farming through cage culture here, has been awarded the Malaysian Good Agriculture Practices (myGAP) certification.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, in a statement, said MyGAP certification was important to ensure the safety and quality of the food produced from the farm.
“The certification is verification that the food produced is safe for consumption and will not affect the health of consumers.
“A good system will guarantee the quality of the products produced and will be able to compete with producing countries at the international level,” he said after presenting the MyGAP certification to Borneo Eco Fish managing director Thomas Hii Tiong Kong.
Dr Abdul Rahman visited the project yesterday to see for himself the research being carried out by Borneo Eco Fish in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture’s Land Fisheries Division, where lobster seedlings were supplied by the Sematan Land Fisheries Station.
Some 30,000 lobster seedlings were later released into the nursery cages as a gesture to encourage Borneo Eco Farm to continue carrying out research and experimental works for lobster farming through cage culture.
Besides the lobster farm, Dr Abdul Rahman also visited a fish farm developed by Law Kung Meng, who breeds various species of freshwater fishes through cage culture, including red tilapia, ‘jelawat’, ‘tengadak’ and catfish.
The project boasts about 1,000 active cages in Teluk Telaus, near the Batang Ai hydro dam.
A point of interest about this project is the adoption of an auto feeder system, which enables precise feeding at appropriate times to care for the fish more effectively and in turn help reduce the cost of manpower.
Assistant Minister of Industries and Investment, who is also Batang Ai assemblyman, Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, Land Fisheries Division assistant director-general Awang Alim Awang Kassim and Sri Aman Division agriculture officer Mokhtar Ali were among those present. — DayakDaily
