Indonesia: Half of Bengkulu`s coral reefs damaged by fish trawls

Antara 5 Jan 11;

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - About 40 to 50 percent of Bengkulu province`s coral reefs have been damaged by trawls used by fishermen to catch fish, a local fisheries official said.

"The condition of coral reefs along the coast from Kaur to Mukomuko districts has deteriorated so much dues to the use of trawls by fishermen." Bismalinda, head of Bengkulu`s marine and fisheries office, said here Tuesday.

Most local fishermen were not aware of the adverse consequences of the use of trawls for the marine ecosystem, he said.

The damaging process had been going on for a long time and repairing it would take decades. Meanwhile, the degraded condition of the coral reefs had reduced fish` hauls, especially hauls of reef fish and lobsters along the Bengkulu coasts, he added.

The situation was currently being compounded by uncertain weather conditions which further depressed fishermen`s income, he said,

Coral reef damage was also caused by the use of explosives by the fishermen. The practice killed not only big but also small fishes.

Nowadays, he added, it was difficult for fishermen to catch fish near the coastline and they had to go farther out to sea to get fish while their boats could not do that.

To overcome the problem, local fisheries authorities were continuously informing fishermen of the hazards of using trawls and dynamite to catch fish, he said.

The government was making serious efforts to conserve and rehabilitate the coral reefs but they would succeed only with the participation and awareness of the people to preserve the ecosystem of coral reefs, he said. (*)