Fish find new home in old bus
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Public minibuses in the city, with their thick black smoke and dangerous maneuvers, are looked upon by many to be a menace.
But fish, clams and crabs around the Kotok island pier in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency are likely to consider the bus a cozy home.
A minibus devoid of all machinery, oil and paint was sunk to a depth of 23 meters on Sunday by divers of the Bubbles Dive Center, whose office is located in Cilandak, South Jakarta.
"We submerged two wooden boats in the same area in 2000 and 2001," said Daniel "Abi" Abimanju Carnadie, manager of Bubbles. "But they have started to disintegrate."
The bus -- donated by cellular phone operator Telkomsel, Kentucky Fried Chicken and several others -- was placed near the boats, so that fish can easily move from the old home to the new one.
Such artificial habitats for fish are in line with the program of the Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park, which includes the waters surrounding Kotok island and some 77 other islands. They are necessary following the decreasing marine life due to the use of toxic potassium cyanide and explosives by fishermen, excessive fishing and pollution.
"Although the practice of fishing with explosives is becoming rare, we are still seeing its impact from before," said Edi Susanto of the national park.
Fishing is strictly prohibited in 107,489-hectare marine park, he said. Hopefully, the fish population will recover in the no- fishing zone and spill over to the southern part of the regency, where fishing is the main livelihood of most inhabitants.
"We are urging fishermen to take only fish of considerable size and let the small ones live," he added.
Fishing with explosives not only destroys fish but also coral reefs -- a breeding ground and home for various fish, sea slugs, crabs and turtles.
The latest data from the national park shows that coral reefs that are in an acceptable to very good condition account for only 36.48 percent of the reef area.
Coral is formed by a symbiosis between polyps -- minute animals of class anthozoa -- and single-celled, brilliantly colored algae living inside them. Polyps need to have frames on which to attach themselves to grow.
To encourage the forming of new coral, Bubbles sank a Volkswagen Combi in 2002 and a reef structure in 2003, which unfortunately collapsed.
"The wrecks can be used as alternative diving sites," said Abi. Negligent divers who damage coral reefs also contribute to the declining quality of coral reefs, he added.