IPOH, June 10 — Perak was the biggest contributor to the country’s Arowana ornamental fish industry when it recorded a production of 1,108,450 of the species last year.

The Department of Fisheries Malaysia (DOF) director-general Datuk Adnan Hussain said the figure was a large part of the country’s production of 1,172,544 Arowana in 2022. "While the trade value for Arowana fish in 2022 recorded RM87 million in total, Perak contributed 72 per cent of the sales,” he said today.

Adnan said other producer states were Johor (with 66,367), Selangor (21,200), Penang (19,137), Melaka (2,096) and Negeri Sembilan (1,565).

He said so far, a total of 96 Arowana fish farms have been registered with the DOF and operating in Bukit Merah with a total farm area of 145 hectares.

Meanwhile, he said the commercial value of ornamental fish throughout the country recorded as much as RM370 million with a production of 245 million ornamental fish.

"The state of Perak has produced some 63 million ornamental fish which contributed to a trade value of RM92 million and the main export market for more than 50 per cent of our country’s Kelisa fish is China.

"These ornamental fish are also exported to Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Vietnam and Thailand while the types of fish exported are Malaysia Gold, Highback, Nami, Silver and Super Red,” he said. — Bernama