PARLIAMENT | Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Salahuddin Ayub assured the killer whales (orcas) spotted in Terengganu waters this July will not threaten the country's seafood source.
"The appearance of these orcas will not threaten the country's seafood source because the migration of this species is not often and not in significant populations.
"The ministry through the Fishery Research Institute (FRI) can carry out research to examine the migration patterns of this mammal if there is a need," he said Agriculture and Agro-based Minister Salahuddin Ayub assured the killer whales (orcas) spotted in Terengganu waters this July will not threaten the country's seafood sources.
"The appearance of these orcas will not threaten the country's seafood sources because the migration of this species is not often and not in a significant population size.
"The ministry, through the Fishery Research Institute (FRI), can carry out research to examine the migration patterns of this mammal, if there is a need," he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Ahmad Amzad Mohamed (PAS-Kuala Terengganu) who questioned whether the presence of these orcas in Terengganu would threaten the country's fishery if the waters became a pathway for these aquatic mammals.
Salahuddin explained that the species of orcas that appeared in Terengganu waters on July 16, 2019, were a sub-species called the short-finned pilot whale.
They usually move in groups of 10 to 50 whales, and it is believed that the South China Sea is a migration route for them at that time, he said.
The orcas were first sighted in July near the Pelantar Dulang Petronas oil drilling platform, off Kerteh.
Rantau Abang Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), Marine Mammals branch head Mohd Tamimi Ali Ahmad had confirmed at that time that the mammals sighted were orcas.
The orcas are classified as a threatened aquatic mammal species, protected under the Fishery Act 1985.
Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the government is determined to protect flora and fauna in the country including animals that are not indigenous to Malaysia despite land development.
"People need to have a living space. We need to earn something from our land and in the process, some of these flora and fauna might be endangered.
"But we are trying to keep them alive. We are even trying to safeguard animals that are not indigenous to Malaysia.
"That is how much we care about flora and fauna in Malaysia," he told the audience at the ISIS Malaysia Praxis conference 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.
Mahathir added: "We have poachers coming to Malaysia to steal our tigers and elephant tasks. It is not easy to police the forest area that makes up 53 percent of our land size.
"Many creatures have disappeared despite the effort (to protect them) over the long period of civilisation. Wolves used to roam Europe before but today, there are no more wolves there.
"They couldn't sustain that. But we have been able to sustain a lot of our flora and fauna." - Mkini
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