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)