Thousands of fish in Sungai Bera and Sungai Serting in the Bera area near here were found dead in the past week from poisoning or bombing activities by irresponsible individuals out to harvest fish.

This has threatened the livelihood of Orang Asli residents and settlers of the Triang Felda Cluster, who depend on catching fish from the two rivers for consumption and sale.

"They take advantage of the drop in the water level in the current draught season to harvest fish using poison or explosives," said one of the Orang Asli residents, Deris a/l Panjang, 54, to Bernama, here, on Saturday.

He said thousands of dead fish such as patin liar (wild silver catfish), baung (Mystus SPP catfish), lampam (carp) and kerai (Puntius daruphani) littered the surface of the rivers due to the illegal acts.

A settler from Triang Satu Felda, Ahmad Nazri Che Omar, 51, said, they dared not catch the remaining fish in the rivers fearing they could be poisoned and had resorted to seeking fish in nearby marshes for their own consumption.

Meanwhile, Kemayan assemblyman Mohd Fadzil Othman in urging the authorities to act against the culprits, also wanted the Village Security and Development Committee and the public to report to the authorities if they find out about illegal activities to poison fish in their areas.

Mohd Fadzil also advised the Orang Asli staying near the rivers against using water from the rivers for consumption as it could be poisoned.