Indonesian fishing moratorium a small step to help save Coral Triangle

WWF 15 Mar 10;

WWF welcomes Indonesian moratorium on new trawl and purse seine fisheries licenses but an immediate reduction in fishing efforts is needed in order to protect the Coral Triangle, the world’s most diverse marine environment.

Trawling and purse seine fisheries have become a problematic issue in Indonesia, strongly contributing to the overfishing of mostly fully exploited juvenile tunas, and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the area (IUU).

“This moratorium on new fishing licenses for trawlers and purse seiners will certainly stop the bleeding but not the wound, so to speak. A reduction in current fishing capacity is key to addressing problems of overfishing and bycatch of juvenile tunas in the Coral Triangle” says Dr. Lida Pet-Soede, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Head.

Tuna is an important fishing resource in Coral Triangle as it supports the economies of many developing nations and represents the livelihoods of millions of people in this region and beyond.

The region contains spawning and nursery grounds and migratory routes for commercially-valuable tuna species such as bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and albacore, producing more than 40% of the total catch for the Western Central Pacific region, and representing more than 20% of the global catch.

As of 2007, more than 10,000 trawlers and 22,000 purse seiners have been found in Indonesian waters.

‘These existing fishing fleets are highly capable of bringing already fully exploited fish stocks to an even greater overfished state’ adds Dr. Pet-Soede.

‘We would also like to seek further clarification on the criteria being used to determine stock recovery and how this is will be evaluated. WWF is willing to participate and contribute to this process.’

Trawling, which can catch as much as 30 tons of fish in a single operation, was banned nationally in 1980 but was once again made legal two years later, specifically in the Arafuru Seas in Papua.

In 2008, a regulation to allow shrimp trawling in the East Kalimantan province was issued.

Today, demersal fish stocks and shrimp are fully exploited and overfished in the Arafuru Seas. Similar results have occurred in the Flores Seas and Makassar Strait in East Kalimantan.

Purse seining has likewise become an issue in Indonesian fisheries. As much as 57% of skipjack, 71% of yellowfin and 75% of bigeye tunas caught by Indonesian purse seiners are juvenile and fully exploited.

Purse seining of small pelagic fish, or free swimming open ocean species like Skipjack tuna and sardines in Indonesia accounts for as much as 80% of the total catch in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. This however also includes big pelagic fish, which have been overfished in the Sulawesi Seas and Pacific Ocean. Pelagic fish, both big and small, have now been classified as fully exploited in Indonesia.