Dolphin poaching out of control in Riau

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau

Thousands of fishermen in the coastal areas of Bagansiapi-api, the capital of Rokan Hilir regency, Riau province have reportedly been poaching dolphins for the last ten years.

As the fish yields in the area have been rapidly decreasing, the fishermen have turned to dolphins as an alternative, and dolphin meat is sold openly at markets in Bagansiapi-api, said Bismark Tampubolon, the head of the Natural Resource Association in Riau (KPSA).

According to Bismark, you can usually see about five dolphins a week on sale in Datuk Rubih market in the heart of Bagansiapi- api, some 300 kilometers north of Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province.

"If dolphins are continually poached, we're afraid that the protected species will be extinct in the near future. The terrible thing is, the government is not even concerned about the matter," he said.

The price of dolphin meat can reach Rp 10,000 (US$1.16) to Rp 15,000 per kilogram on the local market.

Besides local demand, dolphins are also traded in the middle of the sea between fishermen from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

"They also sell them to foreign fishermen. A complete 200- kilogram dolphin cost a mere Rp 1 million (around $116)," he said.

Locals believe that eating dolphin meat can cure male impotence. As a consequence, fishermen who previously had no interest in dolphins, are now hunting them down as fast as possible.

"Not only are fishermen from Bagansiapi-api involved, but also those from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. They continually hunt them in the Malacca Strait," said Bismark.

Dolphins used to be seen regularly leaping playfully alongside vessels sailing in the seas off Riau, but are now nowhere to be seen, he said.

Meanwhile, the Rokan Hilir Maritime Affairs and Fisheries office head, Amrizal, objected to the criticism, saying that fishermen in Bagan were not intentionally catching the dolphins. The dolphins were accidentally trapped in the fishermen's nets along other fish, he claimed.

He did admit, however, that the trapped dolphins were later sold openly in Bagansiapi-api.

He said that the dolphin trade was attributed to ignorance on the part of impoverished local fishermen, who did not realize they were killing protected animals.

Amrizal promised to educate the fishermen in Bagan about releasing dolphins that were trapped in their nets.

Bagansiapi-api municipality, prior to the 1980s, was one of the most prosperous areas of the archipelago for fishermen. Not only that, it was also known as the second busiest fish harbor in the world after Norway.

As a busy fishing port, Bagansiapi-api had once reached its glory during the Dutch colonial period, in the 1930s, when the harbor that faces the Malacca Strait once processed as much as 300,000 tons of fish per year.

The fishing industry in Bagansiapi-api began to take shape in the in the 1880s, when waves of immigrants arrived from other parts of Asia in search of fish, much like the 1849 gold rush in California.

But the fishing business has gradually declined, most strikingly since the 1970s, as more and more fishermen, including the foreigners, competed for fewer fish in Bagansiapi-api waters. Local fishermen have said this has been the worst year ever for catching fish.