The introduction of invasive alien fish species has threatened various indigenous ecosystems all over the world. However, some of these fish species have contributed to food security through improved fish production. There is a general dearth of published literature on various aspects of alien freshwater fish species in Malaysia. To show the importance of alien freshwater fish species in Malaysia’s culture and inland capture fisheries, this paper describes the trend in alien and native fish production by wholesale and retail value over an 11-year period (2007 to 2017).
Alien fishes dominate freshwater fish culture (93% of production) and occupies a considerable proportion of Malaysia’s inland freshwater capture fisheries (41% of production). Out of the 1,317,440 metric tonnes (MT) of cultured fish produced with wholesale value of RM 7.9 billion from 2007 to 2017, about 93% (1,221,869 MT) with wholesale value of RM 6.7 billion are from species not native to Malaysia. There was an increase in the production and value of aliens between 2007 and 2017, from 63,434 MT to 98,663 MT valued at RM 70 milion to RM 103 million, respectively. A wide gap exists between the production and value of alien and native cultured fishes (Figure 1). On the contrary, native fish production dominates the inland freshwater capture fisheries sector and out of the total of 57,552 MT of fish produced with a wholesale value of RM 662 million between 2007 and 2017, alien species occupy about 41.4% (16,837 MT), with wholesale value of about 17.6% (RM 99 million), respectively. Comparing 2007 to 2017, there were slight increases in the production of alien and native fish while there was a greater increase in value for both categories, with native fishes experiencing a greater increase. Year 2013 experienced the highest alien capture fish production at 2301 MT, increasing close to native fish production which stood at 3,339 MT. As of 2017, this figure nose-dived all the way to 1,355 MT at a value of RM 11 million (Figure 2). Alien fish species are greatly important for the Malaysian economy. It is, therefore, necessary to preserve freshwater biodiversity by constantly monitoring alien fishes in the wild, and improving native fish production. This would help to control and prevent current and potential negative impacts including invasion of the native freshwater ecosystems.