Used plastic not being turned into fish feed, says fisheries dept

PETALING JAYA: The federal fisheries department has denied rumours of used plastic being processed into fish feed pellets, following action taken yesterday by the Kedah environment department against a recycling factory.

The fisheries department said the rumours arose from confusion about the packaging used by the factory for plastic pellets, which led local breeders to believe these pellets were meant to be fish feed.

“The bags used for packaging were (previously used) for fish feed, which caused confusion among breeders.

“The fisheries department would like to stress that the recycling factory is not linked to PSJ Feed Sdn Bhd, a verified fish feed factory operating in Penang since 2022,” the department said in a statement.

It said PSJ Feed is currently in the process of getting fish quality certification for its feed and the department will also take feed samples to verify their composition.

“The results of the fish feed sample analysis will be released in 14 working days.

“The department gives the public its assurance that all fish feed produced by registered factories are compliant with its standards and are safe for use,” it said.

Yesterday, natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the Kedah environment department discovered that a factory in Sungai Petani was recycling plastic without approval, and producing pellets packed and labelled as fish feed.

He said the activity was discovered during Ops Patuh, which was carried out jointly with the police and immigration department.