TUMPAT: While her fellow graduates preferred the comfort of an air-conditioned office to work in, Wan Nur Sazwani Wan Zaharia did not mind being out in the sun taking stock of her cages of freshwater fishes.
A Malaya University graduate in business management, she breeds ‘ikan keli’, ‘patin’ and ‘tilapia’ which are contained in 84 cages at Sungai Kelaboran here.
“Initially I was not interested in the enterprise. My father Wan Zahari Wan Ahmad had spent about RM300,000 to build the floating cages and when he passed away, my interest grew. I found that it is actually very profitable,” she told Bernama at her farm where she is assisted by four workers.
Nur Sazwani, 26, said her farm could produce about 5,000kg of freshwater fish monthly, while the demand which was constantly increasing, would be about 10,000 during Ramadan.
“I plan to build more cages in future said the young businesswoman who supplies to the local market as well as Terengganu.
According to her, the ikan keli could be sold after three months while the patin and tilapia, about eight months.
“We feed the fish with pellets that we process ourselves and float the cages in the smooth flowing river to ensure freshness,” she said.
Besides Nur Sazwani, 23 other participants in Tumpat are involved in the freshwater fish farming under the guidance of the Kelantan Fisheries department. — Bernama