Epidemic kills tons of fish, local breeders hit hard

Epidemic kills tons of fish, local breeders hit hard

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Kuningan, West Java

At least 820 tons of goldfish here have died following an
unprecedented epidemic caused by the Aeromanas hydrophila
bacterium over the past month, resulting in Rp 3.2 billion
(US$35.75 million) in losses.

The bacterium has been found to have contaminated the
regency's reservoir, breeding farms, and fishing ponds, head of
the protection and health division at the local agriculture
office Bunbun B said on Thursday.

He said that since the first attack of the bacterium was
detected on June 16, his office had asked fish breeders to drain
their fishing nets at Darma reservoir, located 12 kilometers
south of here.

"The reservoir should be drained and cleared of the bacterium
to prevent it from spreading to the remaining nets," he said.

Bunbun suggested that new fish breeding be suspended until
September to avoid the effect of poison contained in the
substances used to clean the reservoir.

He speculated that Aeromanas had come from the breeding stock
of young fish brought in from other regencies, notably the
neighboring town of Subang.

"It (Subang) is the place where the bacterium was first found.
I believe it has already spread to Central Java, Yogyakarta and
East Java," he said.

Separately, agriculture office chairman Kaswan Heryawan
admitted that he had received a report about the epidemic from
many fish breeders and the first district reporting an attack by
the bacterium was Pasawahan, followed by other districts such as
Cigugur, Darma and Kuningan.

He said that based on the research conducted by the Center of
Water Fisheries in the regency, before being attacked by the
bacterium, the fish were infected with Rhabdovirus, a virus that
weakens the fishes' immunity.

"Aeromanas is not a new type of bacterium and can be found
everywhere. It can be lethal if the fishes' immunity is weak," he
said.

"The bacterium will die within 24 hours if it cannot find a
host such as fish gills. Neither can Aeromanas live at a
temperature above 30 degrees Celsius.

Heryawan said that a fish that had been attacked by Aeromanas
would show some white spots on its gills and scales and would die
within three days.

He suggested that the traders stop trafficking in fish
breeding stock in the regions affected and breed other kinds of
fish that were more resistant to the bacterium until the
reservoir water had been declared safe.

Sukarya, a fish breeder in Pasawahan district, said he had
lost Rp 6 million to the epidemic while Suharna, who breeds fish
at Darma reservoir, said he had suffered almost Rp 7 million in
losses.