Many fish die of asphyxiation

Many fish die of asphyxiation

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fish in the waters around Gosong Sekati, Karya, Panggan and
Pramuka islets in the Thousand Islands regency have died due to
asphyxiation, according to an Environmental Management Agency
statement on Monday.

Kakap (Lates calcarifer), Kerapu (Epinephalus tauvina), Pari
(Elasmobranchii) and Sembilang (Plotosus sp) fish were among the
species found dead on Friday around the four islets.

"The phenomenon was likely caused by a drop in oxygen content
in the water due to a rapid proliferation of the phytoplankton
population, which absorbs oxygen in the water," the agency's head
Kosasih Wirahadikusumah told The Jakarta Post.

Kosasih said his agency had taken samples of the water from
the locations and sent them to the laboratory of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences's (LIPI) oceanography for examination.

"Hopefully, the laboratory could come up with the result this
week and we could know exactly what causes the deaths of the
fish," he said.

Head of the Thousand Islands Marine Park Sumarto said that it
had been occurring since Friday and was the third major case of
its kind this year.

"I've observed that the occurrences are getting more frequent
recently owing to a worsening of the ecosystem in the regency due
to massive pollution from oil companies here as well as the
massive waste that flows into the bay from Jakarta's 13 main," he
explained to The Post.

Last year, the Jakarta administration reported at least five
cases where amounts of fish, shrimp and clams died all at once.

Environmentalists have voiced suspicions that fish, shrimp and
clams were being killed by high levels of pollution in the
Jakarta Bay. Many have alleged that industrial plants located in
the area had dumped unprocessed and toxic waste into the rivers
or into the sea directly. However, not a single case to date has
been heard in any courts in the capital.

Worse still, for many Jakarta residents, rivers also serve as
sewage canals as there is an absence of an integrated sewage
system in the city.

Last year, the Center for Marine and Coastal Natural Resources
Study at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) revealed that the
heavy metals found in Jakarta Bay had exceeded tolerable levels.

The lead (Pb) content stood at 0.120 milligram per liter, much
higher than the standard level of only 0.008 mg per liter,
Cadmium (Cd) hovered at 0.068 mg per liter compared to the
standard level of 0.001 mg per liter, while Mercury (Hg) was at
0.005 mg per liter, higher than the tolerable level of 0.001 mg
per liter.

According to Sumarto, the dead fish phenomenon often takes
place after real heavy rains wash a lot of the scum and
pollutants into the sea.

"So far, there have not been significant improvements made by
the administration to reduce massive waste dumped into the city's
rivers," he acknowledged.

He said that the management of the Thousand Islands Marine
Park also discovered a spill of palm oil about a 100 meters off
the coast of nearby Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta.

"The spill was 200 meters in width and 1.5 kilometers in
length. But, I think that spill is unlikely the cause (of the
deaths of the fish)," he said.

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