KUALA LUMPUR: There is a sufficient supply of fish in the country, and the recent surge in demand is caused by panic buying following reports of a food crisis, says the Fisheries Department.

Its director-general Mohd Sufian Sulaiman said the department always ensured that the supplies were sufficient.

“Do not panic buy as we have enough supplies from fish breeding and catching activities,” he told reporters at the launch of a campaign to consume freshwater fish here on Saturday (May 28).

Mohd Sufian said on average, Malaysians consume about 42kg of fish a year.

He also said that the department also ensured that fishermen are given technical training to use new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Super Intensive systems to increase productivity.

Super Intensive is a technological system that deals with fish-related food security that produces a small ‘footprint’ but with results up to three times that.

The campaign launched on Saturday was an effort by the Fisheries Department to encourage the community to use freshwater fish in their daily cooking menu, thus increasing the demand and production of freshwater fish.

It was officiated by Agriculture and Food Industry Deputy Minister 1 Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah as a continuation at the state level after the national-level launch by Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee on May 24. – Bernama