Climate Change`s Impact In Indonesian Fisheries Becoming Near, Real

Fardah Antara 7 Sep 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Ode (45), a fisherman of Lebak District, Banten Province, has to sell his belongings to buy food for his family as bad weather has forced him to stay away from open seas over the past two months.

"I recently sold my television set to meet our daily needs," he told ANTARA at a local fish market in Lebak, Thursday (3/9).

Like Ode, other fishermen in Lebak District have also complained about their meager fish catches lately due to continuing bad weather conditions marked by strong winds, rain or huge waves in the Indian Ocean.

The fishermen said they could hardly get any fish because of strong winds, rain and huge waves at night in the Indian Ocean. Besides, the bad weather was dangerous for fishermen, he said.

Another fisherman, Keong (25), told a similar story as he had been unable to fish in the open sea due to bad weather during the past two months.

"We have been able to catch only small fish that sell at very low prices," he said.
Rohman (55), a Panggarangan fisherman, also in Lebak District, said he had switched to farming to earn a living, because fishing with very low fish catches was not profitable.

"Every time I have to fish in the sea, I have to spend Rp40,000 on fuel, while I just manage to get Rp20,000 to Rp30,000 from selling the fish," he said.

Around 2,912 fishermen and fishery workers in Lebak are now jobless due to the drastic decline in fish catches, according to Ade Supriatman, secretary of the Lebak chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen`s Association.

"I am very much concerned about the local fishermen`s economic condition as their fish catches have decreased sharply during the past few months," he said.

In Jakarta, last Tuesday (Aug 31), Gelwin Yusuf, head of the marine and fishery affairs ministry`s marine and fishery research agency explained that the prevailing climate change phenomena had affected Indonesia`s fishery industry and caused the fish catches to dwindle.

"Indonesia`s fish catches have been affected by climate change phenomena," said
"The crucial aspect caused by the climate change is increasing pressure on the food resilience, including a composition balance change in the types of fish catch results," he said.

If the La Nina weather phenomenon which has been triggering wet drought in Indonesia continues until late 2010 or early 2011, sardine fish (Sardinella longiceps) catches in the Bali Strait will drop, he said.

The sardine fish catch decline might reach 24 percent from that in 2009, or 17 percent over the last 25 years.

Besides, climate change has also reduced production of swamp fish in Indonesian waters by 5 percent over the past 13 years.

According to Gelwin, climate change also had the potential of altering the type composition of fish catches.

He cited as an example that in Atlantic Ocean waters, fish catch results had changed from demersal fish species to pelagic species.

Pelagic fish live in water columns of coastal, ocean and lake waters, but not on the bottom of the sea or lakes. They can be contrasted with demersal fish, which do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish which are associated with coral reefs.

Climate change has also altered fish catch results from vertebrate to invertebrate sea animals.

Apart from affecting food resilience, climate change is also putting pressure on coral reefs and marine biota ecosystem, coastal communities, and regional security such as increased competition for fish resources, he said.

Seas and maritime technology could contribute for mitigation and adaptation strategy of the climate change, according to the official.

As part of the adaptation strategy, the fishery and marine affairs ministry has developed some 2,612 climate-change-impact-proof houses in Tengerang (Banten), Pamekasan and Lamongan (East Java), Demak, Pekalongan, Rembang, and Brebes (Central Java), Indramayu and Banjar (West Java), Riau (Sumatra), and Bali.

The ministry also issues forecast maps of fish catch areas twice a week, covering Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Sulawesi, and Maluku, as well as Papua.

Adaptive technology in the aquaculture is also crucial to produce prime varieties immune against the climate change impacts, low-emission fish food, and environmentally friendly aquaculture technology, he added.

Indonesia`s neighboring country of Australia, has also experienced a similar situation. A new Australia`s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) study recently found that climate change is driving a widespread number of fish south as the oceans warm.

CSIRO has identified south-eastern Australia as a climate change hotspot, with well documented changes already occurring over the last 70 years.

CSIRO spokesman Dr Peter Last said a snapshot of the distribution of coastal fish has located 43 types of fish outside their normal range. Those species on the move include rock flathead, tiger sharks and Queensland groupers.

The study also found up to 19 species of Tasmanian coastal fish have undergone serious declines, and some are possibly extinct locally.

Besides the fishery sector, Climate change impacts have also threatened Indonesia`s agricultural products.

Indonesia needs to strengthen its domestic food stock to anticipate extreme climate change, Agriculture Minister Suswono said in Jakarta recently.

The unexpected La Nina during the current supposedly dry season, has caused heavy rains and floods in some provinces such as West Java, South Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Gorontalo (Sulawesi).

Floods have affected around 100,000 hectares of fields, however it is still below one percent of total rice fields that reach 13 million hectares.

Failures caused by pests are found in around 3,800 hectares of fields which is above the average in the last five years.

The minister said the climate change had caused the spread of brown planthoppers but various efforts had already been taken to overcome them such as through development of pest-or drought-resilient varieties.

"We must remain alert towards possible extreme climate change by increasing our food stock," he said, despite a prediction that the country might still enjoy a surplus of 5.6 million tons of rice at the end of the year.

The minister said India, China and Russia had also done the same thing to anticipate climate change that could cause a drop in production.

The minister said the country`s rice surplus of 5.6 million tons by the end of the year would be able to meet national needs if conditions are normal without pest attacks, floods or drought.

"The problem is that the climate change is uncertain. It is not impossible for floods and drought to happen or pests to attack. So we must not ignore food supply. We must strengthen the stock," he said. (*)