Excessive plankton has been blamed for the death of thousands of fish in coastal farms off Changi.
A similar incident was reported last year and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to nearly 40 coastal fish farms.
Wikipedia describes planktons (singular plankter) as a diverse group of organisms that live in the water and usually provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such as fish.
Red Tide is caused by a “population explosion” of toxic, naturally occurring microscopic plankton (specifically, a subgroup known as dinoflagellates).
The Straits Times reported that farmers woke up yesterday to find their fish belly up. Dead fish were also seen along the Pasir Ris shoreline.
The newspaper said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) attributed the deaths to gill damage caused by plankton. The plankton is believed to have used up all the dissolved oxygen in the water.
Lab tests conducted so far did not detect biological toxins in the fish, and fish from local farms remained safe to eat, an AVA spokesman said.
AVA is expected to offer an assistance package to the affected farmers, just like they did last year.
