Fisheries Dept replanting seagrass in Mersing for dugong conservation

The Department of Fisheries (DOF) is replanting seagrass as part of conservation efforts in Pulau Tinggi and Pulau Sibu, Mersing, which are dugong grazing areas and habitats.

DOF deputy director-general of fisheries (management) Wan Muhammad Aznan Abdullah said the department’s experts were working in collaboration with public universities to further attract the presence of these mammals on the two islands, which have been gazetted as marine parks.

“In addition to that (replanting of seagrass bed), like in Pulau Tinggi, sometimes the current is too strong and it will push the seagrass that is growing.

“Therefore, we will also make an artificial reef to develop coral so that the seagrass can be sheltered from the current,” he said after launching the Johor Fisheries Aquaculture Flavours Programme and Roadshow yesterday.

He said this when asked to comment on the DOF’s efforts to prevent the dugong from going extinct in Mersing waters.

The department previously said the Mersing islands are where dugongs are often found but the population of the marine mammal is shrinking due to threats to its habitat and the seagrass ecosystem.

According to the DOF, the seagrass meadows around Pulau Sibu and Pulau Tinggi are important grazing areas for dugongs, as seen from the seagrass survey and the effects of grazing since 2014.

The DOF said although the exact number of dugongs in the Mersing Islands is unknown, the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation suggests that the dugong population in the area is likely below 100.

When asked about the issue of mussels in Port Dickson’s waters being contaminated with dangerous biotoxins, Wan Aznan said they are still not safe to eat.

“The ban on selling it is in effect until we make sure the biotoxin level is below 800 parts per billion,” he said.

On April 4, Wan Aznan said the laboratory analysis results of the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre showed that mussels in Port Dickson’s waters have been contaminated with harmful algae, making them unsafe to eat.

- Bernama