Inmates at Samut Songkhram Prison were trained by fish sauce master Jittrakorn Buadee from Phetchaburi, whose idea of making sauce from the invasive fish has been widely praised. Bundit Kunlawanit, director of the Samut Songkhram fisheries office, said the number of blackchin tilapia in local water sources has fallen since the programme began in August. The department says it has eradicated at least 90,000kg of blackchin tilapia from 17 provinces nationwide. A House of Representatives sub-committee in September said a company that it declined to name was the sole importer of blackchin tilapia was at the root of the problem. CP Foods has publicly acknowledged that it first imported blackchin tilapia for research in December 2010, with permission from the Department of Fisheries.
