Last week, Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin made a bold statement by saying he would present information and evidence to the Senate this week, identifying those responsible for the spread of invasive blackchin tilapia. He is not the first to make such a pledge. Former agriculture minister Capt Thamanat Prompow said in 2024 that he would reveal the culprits to the media, but failed to do so.
While Mr Suchart deserves praise for showing a sense of responsibility, it remains to be seen whether he can produce anything new or significant. It also raises the question of whether the minister is fully aware of the situation and the scope of the problem.
The spread of the invasive fish is indeed the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries, while efforts to determine liability are being pursued through the civil courts, where affected fishing communities have sued Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF). The plaintiffs allege that CPF imported the species for research in 2010 and are seeking more than 2 billion baht in compensation. The company has strongly denied the accusation, saying all research fish were destroyed in a controlled environment and that it is ready to prove it was not the source of the species' spread. The lawsuit will almost certainly take years to reach a conclusion.
The problem is that the ecosystem cannot wait. While the public and authorities focus on accountability, this highly resilient and fast-proliferating fish, originally from Africa, has spread through waterways and canals, damaging local fish and shrimp populations and displacing native species.
So far, blackchin tilapia have been found in public waterways in 19 provinces. Last month, freshwater blackchin tilapia were caught off Pattaya Beach, raising concerns about possible impacts on the coastal ecosystem. After an investigation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said the fish may have been accidentally flushed into the sea from upstream canal systems.
The government and relevant ministries need to work harder to contain the invasion. Over the past several years, the Department of Fisheries and successive agriculture ministers have made numerous promises that remain unfulfilled.
For example, Capt Thamanat introduced an action plan in 2024 to contain the spread of blackchin tilapia. The plan included seven measures, ranging from encouraging consumption of the fish and promoting commercial demand to introducing predator species, public education campaigns and exploring genetic modification as a control method.
At present, the Department of Fisheries appears largely limited to encouraging people to eat the invasive fish and developing new menu items to boost demand. There has been little progress or public update on plans to use predator species to control its spread.
Last month, Deputy Agriculture Minister Watcharaphon Khaokham said the ministry was working with the National Science and Technology Development Agency and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to study blackchin tilapia for new product development. It is disappointing to learn that, after more than a decade, the Department of Fisheries is still studying how to contain the invasion.
Society wants to know who is responsible for the release of this invasive species, with government agencies working together to protect nature from the invasion before it is too late.
