Deadly fish virus spreads to West Sumatra

Deadly fish virus spreads to West Sumatra

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

Millions of carp and gurami have been found dead in a lake and river in West Sumatra province, following a similar disaster recently in Lake Toba, North Sumatra province.

With the help of excavators, farmers and government employees worked together on Monday to remove hundreds of tons of dead fish from karamba (a basket used for fish farming) in Lake Maninjau, Agam regency and Batang Sumpur river in Pasaman regency.

M. Kamil, a veterinarian from Agam Animal Husbandry and Fishery Office, explained on Monday that staffers at his office had begun detect the spread of the koi herpes virus a few weeks ago in 17 karamba in Lake Maninjau.

Staffers then ordered the fish farmers to separate the infected fish from the healthy fish, but it was too late.

Millions of fish had already died, after the removal, the amount of fish totaled 2.5 tons.

The virus quickly attacked other fish in another 4,000 karamba in the lake, killing a large number of fish in each karamba, said Kamil.

The fish were certain to have been infected with Koi herpes virus, which is seen from the white or black coloring of the gills and the shedding of scales.

"Samples of the fish have been dispatched to a fish laboratory in Sukabumi, West Java, and it is positive that the fish were infected with Koi herpes," said Kamil.

Kamil explained that there was no cure for fish infected with Koi herpes, so that he suggested that the farmers harvest the healthy fish and at the same time, remove the infected fish and bury them. The karamba should be left empty for at least four months to ensure the habitat is free from the virus, thus ensuring it will not come back.

Kamil said that the virus was believed to come from Solok regency, also in West Sumatra province, following an earlier report that the fish in the area were infected by Koi herpes a few months ago.

In Pasaman regency some 850 tons of carp and gurami were removed from karamba in Batang Sumpur river.

Pasaman deputy regent Benny Utama said on Monday that the government was looking into ways to help the fish farmers.

Fish farming is a prominent industry in Pasaman regency. Fish farmers in the regency produced 1,884 carp and gurami fry last year, which were sold to several other provinces on Sumatra island. The farmers also sold dozens of tons of gurami and carp to traders in the regency and outside regencies. People in Pasaman only consume some 13,000 tons of gurami and carp per year.

Some 5,000 households here are involved in the karamba business.

Meanwhile, a fishery expert from Bung Hatta University in Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, explained that the virus spread quickly in temperatures below 25 Celsius.

"The water temperature has dropped in West Sumatra province after rain fell in the area recently, enabling the virus to spread fast," said Hafrizal Syandri.

Syandri, on the other hand, believed that the virus came from Java Island through fish fry.

The disaster in West Sumatra came after the death of millions of carp in Lake Toba last week. The Simalungun regental government has banned the consumption of fish from the lake and also instructed the farmers to take the necessary measures to prevent the virus from spreading.