(MY) confiscated arowana

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Breeder seeks return of 35 prized Arowana - Straits Times

 

JOHOR BARU, Jan 11:

--

A Middle-Eastern businessman who breeds Arowana fish for export here

is demanding that the Fisheries Department return 35 prized Arowana

worth about RM300,000 that were seized by its officers last month.

 

Essam Al-Bala'a said the officers had confiscated his fish, claiming

that he had smuggled them into the country from Singapore.

 

He has denied the charge, saying that he ran a bona fide business and

was not involved in any smuggling.

 

At a Press conference at his fish farm in Gelang Patah today, the

37-year-old Majestic Fish Trading Sdn Bhd director said he had

documents to prove that he had brought in about 280 Arowana from

Singapore legally.

 

The fish is an endangered species, and is inserted with a chip when

about seven cm long.

 

BIG LOSS: Essam showing some of the dead Arowana.

 

This is mandatory to qualify for the Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) certificate.

 

Essam said he had arranged with the Fisheries Department to send two

officers to check his cargo in Singapore before it entered the

country.

 

He said he was shocked to find 60 officers waiting for him at the

Second Link checkpoint with his cargo on Dec 8.

 

" When my container arrived, an officer from the federal Fisheries

Department Quarantine and Fish Health Unit ordered me to unload the

container.

 

" I had arranged the styrofoam boxes containing 280 Arowana in such a

way that it would be easy for the officers to inspect them.

 

" But they insisted that I unload all the boxes.

 

" My workers and I protested as mishandling the fish would kill them.

But the officers refused to listen to our pleas, " he said.

 

Essam said the officers took out the double-layered plastic bags

containing the Arowana from the boxes, took photographs of them and

left them on the floor.

 

" Once exposed to air, the Arowana started to suffocate and showed

signs of dying. Indeed, 29 of my prized Arowana died. "

 

Essam said the officers eventually allowed the cargo to be taken to

his farm, but only after they had taken away 35 fish.

 

" Until today, I have not been charged with the alleged offence.

 

" Neither was I issued with a receipt for the seizure of my Arowana. "

 

Responding to the complaint, a Fisheries officer said the Arowana were

now government property.

 

He said the Arowana would be sent to the department's freshwater fish

research centre at Parit Gong in Pertang, Jelebu.