WHAT ARE WE OVER-CONSUMING?
Using a specific fish for a certain dish may go some ways in keeping the dish’s heritage alive. But from the sustainability standpoint, it places a lot of stress on the fish’s population. The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel is one example that has been reduced to a “near threatened” conservation status, said Ong.
“Not everything you see here at Tekka Market should be eaten,” he continued. “The two species we encourage people to avoid are sharks and stingrays”, which are enjoyed as shark’s fin soup, shark meat in lor mee and as sambal stingray, he said. “Both species reproduce very slowly and their populations are under heavy pressure.”
Red snapper varieties, which are favoured in fish head curry and steamboat, are other fishes that are overfished in our region, said Lek. Even the seemingly abundant ikan bilis may be at risk, he said. “There is evidence of ikan bilis being overfished in some areas but data is too deficient at this point.”
Many species of prawns bear the brunt of our appetite, too. “In Singapore, prawns are in everything, from prawn noodles to otah and chilli paste,” said Ong. “But they come with serious environmental issues. Prawn farming has been a major driver of mangrove deforestation across Southeast Asia.”
As for crabs and shellfish such as clams and mussels, “we don’t really have a full assessment on them simply because we don’t have enough data”, said Ong. “Generally speaking, we think they’re not a big issue right now.”
