Antara News, Saturday, June 5, 2010 21:08 WIB
Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung (ANTARA News) - A senator has called on fishermen in Bangka Belitung Province to stop the practice of blast fishing so as to protect human life and marine resources.
"I deplore the fact that certain fishermen still practice blast fishing because it can endanger themselves and other people," Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member Noerhadi Astuti said.
Besides harming human life, using explosives to catch fish could also threaten coral reefs, he said.
On Friday, a home-made bomb that was to be used for poaching exploded inadvertently injuring two people at Kurau village, Bangka Tengah district.
Due to the harmful consequences of the fishing method, Astuti urged local fishermen to stop blast fishing for their own sake and preservation of marine resources.
The province`s coral reefs were currently in danger as a result of blast fishing and floating tin mining activities, he said.
Instead of using home-made bombs, the fishermen were advised to use fishing nets , he said.
Blast fishing activity in the waters of Bangka Belitung Province was believed to be just like the tip of an iceberg.
The same method was also, among others, used by fishermen in West Tapalang village, Central Sulawesi.
As a result, lots of traditional fishermen in the province could no longer get fish easily.
Rusdi, a local fisherman, recently said blast fishing operations in Central Sulawesi waters might have destroyed coral reefs that affected the fish population in the area.
Blast fishing activity in various parts of Indonesia, including Central Sulawesi Province, have attracted world attention.
Endowed by nature with more than 50,000 square kilometers of coral reefs, Indonesia has been listed by the United Nations as a nation with the largest coral reef resources in the world, along with Australia and the Philippines.
According to the United Nations Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC)`s World Atlas of Coral Reefs (2001), Indonesia had 51,020 square kilometers of coral reefs or 17.95 percent of the world`s coral reefs.
This archipelagic nation topped the list , followed by Australia with 48,460 square kilometers, the Philippines (25,060), France (14,280), Papua New Guinea (13,840), Fiji (10,020), Maldives (8,920), Saudi Arabia (6,660), Marshall Islands (6,110) and India (5,790).
The benefits that Indonesia can get from its coral reefs are obvious because coral reefs are evidently the sources of food and income for a lot of people from fisheries and tourism and also sources of raw materials for medicines.
But the UNEC-WCMC has warned that activities, such as fishing using explosives, are seriously degrading coral reefs in various parts of the world, including in Indonesia.
The UN body`s warning is based on factual information collected over the years. Blast fishing itself has been practiced in Indonesia since World War II.
