Coral reef protection plan in the offing
Coral reef protection plan in the offing
JAKARTA (JP): Three private organizations are joining forces to help the government stem the fishing practices destroying Indonesia's coral reefs.
The United States-based Nature Conservancy, its Indonesian sister organization, the Pusaka Alam Foundation, and the Wallacea Development Institute signed an agreement on Sunday on stopping the degradation of Indonesian reefs caused by the use of cyanide in fishing.
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hasnan Habib, a former Indonesian ambassador who heads the Pusaka Alam foundation, underlined the need for Indonesia, the government and the public alike, to protect the country's coral reefs.
He hailed the agreement as a major step toward eliminating the constraints of a lack of skill, technology and financial resources.
Representing the Wallacea Development Institute is Ibnu Sutowo, a former president of the state oil company Pertamina, while Nature Conservancy was represented by the chairman of its board of governors, Joe Williams.
Also present at the signing ceremony at the Jakarta Hilton International were Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, Japanese ambassador Taizo Watanabe, British Ambassador Graham Burton and Maj. Gen. Tuk Setyohadi, the chairman of the Indonesian Fishermen's Association.
Under the agreement, the three organizations will launch a year-long campaign to raise public awareness of coral reef degradation caused by harmful fishing practices.
In Indonesian waters, these practices are often carried out by local fishermen employed by foreign fishing companies, or the crews of foreign fishing boats. The use of cyanide for catching the Napoleon wrasse fish and groupers is common among Indonesian fishermen.
Reef fish are a delicacy among Asians. According to Nature Conservancy, conservative estimates of the annual export and import of wild-caught live reef fish in the region range between 20,000 and 25,000 tons. The figure excludes the domestic market in exporting countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The worst fishing method involves pumping hundreds of tons of cyanide into coral reef communities each year. Target fish stunned by this poison are captured, then revived, and held in floating pens until they are shipped to market by air in specially-designed ships carrying up to 20 tons of live fish.
Ibnu Sutowo said he has challenged the state minister of research and technology to come up with an alternative method of fishing in coral reefs that is not destructive.
E. Siswoyo, a member of the Wallacea Development Institute's executive committee, told The Jakarta Post that the campaign is particularly aimed at the local fishermen who are being "used" by foreign companies and also at government officials.
Siswoyo said most of the fishing companies and boats that use destructive fishing practices are from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, he said. "The irony is that they pay local fishermen to do the dangerous parts of the fishing," he said.
Most of these foreign fishing companies are after the Napoleon wrasse fish which fetches US$20 per kilogram abroad. (01)