Malaysia sets two new records for cockle breeding

MALAYSIA: Department of Fisheries (DOF) has been awarded two certificates by the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR), setting two new benchmarks for cockle breeding. The records were for setting the Longest Natural Cockle Seeding Season lasting 18 months and the Largest Landing of Natural Cockle Seeds in one season from 4 November 2019 to 31 May 2021 on the Teluk Lekir coast in Perak. Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister I said that “the awards were the result of a study by the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) in 2009 which evaluated the suitability of proposed cockle farming sites in addition to bathymetry studies in an effort to understand current conditions at bottom depth, temperature change trends and salinity of the seawater”. The department has successfully demonstrated a temperature shock method capable of inducing cockle seeding in the laboratory. In 2018, a total of 10 tonnes of mature cockles of various sizes were sown at the Lekir Cockle Farming Project, recording a total landing of 238.89 tonnes of cockle seeds the following year. He provided this information while presenting the MBOR certificates to DirectorGeneral of Department of Fisheries, Malaysia in the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Exhibition 2022 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS). Before the implementation of the study, 20.97 tonnes of cockle seeds were produced in the area was in 2016 and 2017. He further added that there are three methods of induced seeding of cockles used in the study physical, chemical and biological induction. DOF is planning to develop a faster cockle farming technique to reduce the period of breeding to between eight and twelve months compared to the current method which takes eighteen to twenty four months. He also hoped that the country's cockle industry could be revived and Malaysia would become the largest producer of cockles in Southeast Asia.

Source: INFOFISH FTD Issue No 119 (The Star)