Best of our wild blogs: 13 Feb 14

Oriental Honey-buzzard attacking bees’ nest
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Farmers losing S$15,000 to S$300,000 as mass fish deaths look set to continue

Kenneth Tan Today Online 13 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE — Fish farmers yesterday continued to add up their losses as the mass fish deaths resulting from the low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water showed no sign of abating, while National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan pledged that the Government would “do its utmost” to help farmers.

Farmers TODAY spoke to said they have each incurred losses ranging from S$15,000 to S$300,000 and, with uncertainty over how long the situation will last, they hope the authorities can help in the interim, as well as provide long-term support such as better monitoring of algae and plankton levels in the water.

Others are doing their best to mitigate losses by selling the remainder of their living fish as quickly as possible or moving them to less affected waters.

In a blog post yesterday, Mr Khaw said he had been told by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) Chief Executive Officer Tan Poh Hong that the situation was serious, with those rearing more susceptible species such as grouper, threadfin and golden trevally more badly affected, while some farms had lost their entire stock.

“We had immediately sent in more workers to deploy aeration systems to help normalise the water conditions and also to assist in the disposal of dead fish,” he said. “I have asked MND and AVA to continue to help our farmers and look into their requests to see how best we can help them in the current situation.”

On Tuesday, the AVA said about 160 tonnes of dead fish had been found in farms on both the East and West Johor Straits. This could have been caused by a plankton bloom — brought on by hot weather or the neap tide — which can drain seawater of oxygen.

A similar incident occurred in 2009, where more than 200,000 dead fish washed up along Pasir Ris beach, but Mr Gary Zhang, who has been a farmer for more than 33 years, said this year’s spell is the worst he has seen.

He said an algae bloom, which could also be triggered by the lack of rain, could be another factor behind the deaths. When algae die, the decay process deprives water of oxygen. He has moved the rest of his livestock to safer waters in Malaysia for the time being.

The AVA has been collecting fish carcasses from affected fish farms and has placed a skid tank at Changi Point Ferry Terminal, where farmers can dispose of dead fish.

Mr Joseph Wee, who owns Blue Marine Fish Farm, said he had also dried some of his dead fish to feed other marine livestock. About seven tonnes of his fish have died, costing him about S$300,000.

Mr Timothy Ng, President of Fish Farmers Association of Singapore, which has about 40 members, said the association hopes to have a dialogue with the authorities, adding that it did not have the resources to help farmers much.

The Government could help by designating new sites to set up fish farms, such as north of Pulau Tekong or in waters with less algae count, which can be used to house stock in the event of a crisis of this nature, Mr Zhang suggested. A team could also monitor the algae or plankton levels in the waters weekly and alert farmers when levels become critical so precautionary measures can be taken.

“If you are prepared, you can place your fish in a canvas bag, put a net underneath while filtering the algae from the water. You can move the fish to a safer place then,” Mr Zhang said. “In 2009, we were not so well prepared. This time, the moment our fish started dying on Saturday, we moved the rest of them by Sunday.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMANDA LEE











Pasir Ris mass fish deaths could lead to over $1 million in losses for farmers
Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE - Pasir Ris has been hit by mass fish deaths, with farmers there estimating that fish dying by the thousands daily could lead to losses exceeding $1 million.

Several affected fish farmers said the deaths started one or two days before the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Yesterday, fish farm workers in the area were seen moving bags of dead fish by boat to the vicinity of Changi Point Ferry Terminal, where a container had been set up for dead fish.

Fish farmer Simon Ho, 64, said he has lost about 20,000 fish, including grouper and silver pomfret, and could lose almost $50,000. "A lot of us could go bankrupt because of this."

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is looking into the mass fish deaths in over 20 farms near Pasir Ris, along the East Johor Strait.

It said causes could include low levels of dissolved oxygen or plankton bloom caused by the hot weather and neap tide, or when the high tide is at its lowest. Plankton blooms happen when micro-organisms in the seawater multiply quickly, draining the seawater of oxygen.

In 2010, a plankton bloom wiped out more than 200,000 fish around Pasir Ris.

Pasir Ris fish farmers are now trying to stem their losses by pumping oxygen and pouring medicine into the water to increase the immunity of the fish.

The AVA, which has collected samples from the farms for analysis, said it is helping farmers set up aeration systems to pump oxygen into the water.

But affected farmers want help in other areas to keep their business afloat. They said factors like cheap fish from Malaysia will make it hard for them to recover.

Fish farm owner Tang Kwai Leng, who is in her 50s, said she has lost over 3,000 fish. This includes red groupers, which can fetch $40 for 1kg. She said: "This is a black new year for us."

MND, AVA to help farmers who have lost their fish stocks: Khaw
Channel NewsAsia 12 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is working closely with local fish farmers to try and salvage the situation after their fish stocks were wiped out over the last week.

In a blog post (also on facebook), National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said many farms, especially those in the North Eastern shores off Changi and Pulau Ubin, are grappling with large numbers of dead fish.

Mr Khaw added that those farms rearing more susceptible species like grouper, threadfin and golden trevally are more badly affected.

Some farms have lost their entire stocks.

Mr Khaw said the ministry would do its utmost to help the farmers ride out this rough patch.

The ministry had immediately sent in more workers to deploy aeration systems to help normalise the water conditions and also to assist in the disposal of dead fish.

The ministry and AVA will continue to help the farmers and look into their requests to see how best to help them in the current situation.

The sudden mass deaths of fish are likely caused by neap tide -- where the difference between the high and low tide is least -- and hot weather.

- CNA/ms

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Fewer hotspots detected in Sumatra on Wednesday: NEA

Channel NewsAsia 12 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE: The number of hotspots detected in Sumatra on Wednesday has dropped to 283 from 458 on Tuesday.

In an update, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said about half of the hotspots were in Riau province.

But NEA noted that more smoke plumes together with haze were visible in Riau on Wednesday, compared with Tuesday.

This was partly due to some cloud cover despite the drop in the number of hotspots counted.

NEA added that the prevailing northeasterly winds over Singapore are expected to persist for a couple of weeks.

This means that for the rest of this week, the likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore remains low.

But Singapore may experience occasional slight haze due to the accumulation of particulate matter under stable atmospheric conditions.

At 8pm, the 3-hour PSI was 41 and the 24-hour PSI range stood at 26-32. A reading of 50 and below means the air quality is in the "good" range.

NEA said it would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as necessary.

Updates are available at the NEA website, the haze microsite, or at NEA’s Facebook page and NEA’s Twitter.

- CNA/gn

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Indonesia: Riau is Burning… Again

Singapore Slams Indonesia as 'Hotspots' Spread
Camelia Pasandaran Jakarta Globe 12 Feb 14;

Jakarta. Brushfires continued to rage on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday, blanketing the troubled Riau province in heavy haze and prompting calls of concern in Singapore as officials braced for the possible return of what is fast becoming an annual problem.

Local officials first reported hazy conditions in Riau last week as the province’s yearly brushfires tore through parched forests and scrubland after weeks of little rain. On Feb. 6, climate and disaster officials reported some 109 “hotspots” across Riau, placing the blame on local farmers’ use of a traditional method to clear covered farmland: setting the offending foliage alight.

By Monday the Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency counted some 187 hotspots on satellite imagery provided to Indonesian officials by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). One day later that number had jumped to 458 hotspots throughout Sumatra, Riau disaster agency head Said Saqlul Amri told the state-run Antara News Agency. More than half of the fires were in Riau, predominately concentrated in the districts of Bengkalis, Rokan Hilir and Siak, he said.

“The number of hotspot in Riau is 244, an increase from 55 hotspots a day before,” he said.

Air quality hit hazardous levels in Dumai and Siak districts on Tuesday, measuring 400 API on the Pollutant Standards Index. In Bengkalis and the provincial capital of Pekanbaru the air quality measured in excess of 100 API — “unhealthy” on the scale.

Some 1,493 people suffered respiratory illness in Dumai and Siak, the only districts to report cases to the local Health Agency. Officials worry the number will climb as additional reports roll in.

“At the moment, we only have reports from the two districts about the number of people suffering [upper respiratory tract infections] because of the haze in Riau,” Diwani, head of Riau Health Agency told the local news portal goriau.com on Tuesday.

The agency has distributed hundreds of masks in affected areas, and warned residents to remain indoors until the haze recedes. In Siak elementary and high schools have been temporarily closed since Tuesday to prevent students from falling ill.

“There are 210 schools are closed because the haze is getting thicker and dangerous especially for the children,” Siak education agency Kadri Yafis told the Indonesian news portal Liputan6.com.

Four flights were cancelled because of poor visibility at Riau’s Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport on Wednesday. Several other planes were able to land safely at the airport despite visibility dropping to as little as 200 meters. The airport’s staff has warned pilots to remain alert and is prepared to divert planes to nearby airports if visibility drops further.

A hot-button issue

The fires are already garnering a reaction in Singapore, where officials, already exasperated with Indonesia over the decision to name a naval vessel after two men responsible for a deadly 1965 bombing of an Orchard Road office building, were quick to express further disappointment in their neighbor.

“Hot spots increasing dramatically in Sumatra, with 458 visible today,” the city-state’s environment minister Vivian Balakhrisnan wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. “Haze may worsen when the winds weaken next week. Some rain expected, but not enough to douse the fires.

“We will try to encourage them to take action — but we all know the welfare of close neighbors is not their priority.”

Air quality in Singapore measured a healthy 35 API on Wednesday, according to the city-state’s National Environmental Agency.

Last year’s brushfires, which blanketed Singapore and Malaysia in a thick blanket of hazardous haze, resulted in weeks of finger-pointing and name calling between the neighboring nations. Indonesian officials accused Singapore of “behaving like a child,” while others accused Singaporean companies of setting the fires.

Many of the companies involved in agri-business in Indonesia are registered in Singapore, but were founded and are still run by Indonesian moguls — a fact that makes such criticisms moot.

Officials in Singapore and Malaysia accused Indonesia of failing to curb what has long been an annual problem. Air quality in Singapore dropped to the worst levels in more than a decade last year, prompting the adoption of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) agreement on a transnational haze monitoring system.

One Ministry of Forestry official said the central government was concerned about the potential impact in Singapore and Malaysia.

“For sure, our government is prioritizing our own country [right now] as it’s not their country which is affected by the smoke at the moment, but us,” Raffles Panjaitan, the director of forestry investigations and observation at the Ministry of Forestry, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. “We never intend to send smoke [to Singapore], but the wind might be heading there. We are concerned about this.”

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in an effort to prevent further strains on cross-border relations, ordered all disaster mitigation officers to do everything in their power to prevent the spread of haze to neighboring countries.

“Our officers have carried out efforts to prevent and handle the fires,” Raffles said.

‘An old tradition’

The Indonesian government has blamed this year’s haze on the actions of small-scale farmers — a claim that diverts the blame from large international agricultural commodity companies but underscores the hurdles the country faces in curbing an illegal practice in a place where enforcement is often lax and corruption is endemic.

“From initial information, the cause of the fire was local people who were used to clearing the land by burning it,” Raffles said. “It is an old tradition.”

A new crop of farmers from the neighboring province of North Sumatra were to blame for the fires, Raffles said. The farmers had moved in to concessions already granted to large agricultural firms, setting the existing cover on fire in an attempt to divert the blame and later use the land themselves, he explained.

“They wanted to imply that the companies were the ones who are burning the forests,” Raffles said. “Police have launched investigation into this case.”

This year’s early dry season in Riau has compounded matters, he said. The dry land has made containing the blaze difficult, Raffles admitted.

“Although it’s wet in Jakarta and most of Java, Riau and West Kalimantan have not seen rain for a month,” he said.

Local residents also set fires of their own during the dry season, torching roadside forests and wooded areas near residential neighborhoods, National Disaster and Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

“These [dry] conditions trigger people to burn the forest,” Sutopo told the Indonesian news portal kompas.com. “Most of the hotspots are located near the streets or residential areas.”

Little progress on a government solution

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) placed the blame on the shoulders of the central government, arguing that the ministries had a track record of favoring large palm and pulp companies known for environmentally destructive practices.

“It’s the mistake of the Indonesian government.” Zenzi Suhadi, a campaigner at Walhi, said on Wednesday. “When they issue a land concession, they failed to consider the environment and the rights of the local people. So it’s normal that after the environment has been badly damaged, that there would be consequences like forest fires and floods.”

The organization urged the government to review the contracts of any company caught burning to clear land.

“They should review the concessions given to companies which illegally clear the land,” Zenzi said.

The campaigner pointed to a disputed concession in Meranti owned by Nasional Sagu Prima, a sago palm plantation company. The land was long used as a sago plantation, but local farmers had always planted the trees amid the existing forest, he said.

When the company was awarded the land by the central government, it clear-cut the forest and planted a large 21,000-hectare sago plantation, Zenzi said. When the plantation caught fire, it quickly spread to land owned by local, small-scale farmers, he explained.

“Recently their plantation was on fire and it spread to people’s plantations,” he said.

While the company was able to douse the flames, the damage was already done to several local farms, Zenzi said.

“They cleared the forest,” he said. “They made the problem and the local people have become the victims. It’s the mistake of the government.”

The central government has to stop protecting big companies and reduce the environmental impact of unsustainable practices in places like Riau, he explained.

“The only way to stop [the fires] is by limiting the issuance of concessions for the plantation companies, especially those who have been illegally clearing the forest,” he said.

The government, though, has its own plan. Local officials need to continue their work to convince farmers to not set fire to existing vegetation.

“We do try to change their practices,” Raffles said. “Officers from the central government, the provincial to district level, have tried to inform and educate them about this. But they can’t be changed automatically. It takes time.”

Thick haze in Riau disturbs air transportation
Antara 12 Feb 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau province (ANTARA News) - Planes heading to Sultan Syarif Kasim international airport, Pekanbaru, Riau province, are forced to circle around before landing due to decreasing visibility, a result of ongoing forest fire in the area, an official stated.

"Almost all the planes intending to land in Sultan Syarif Kasim airport have to wait before the airport authority can confirm a safe landing position for them," airports Duty Manager Baiquni stated here on Wednesday.

According to the airports record, the planes that were made to circle around before clearance from the ground staff are Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta, Sky Aviation from Malaysia, Citylink from Batam and Air Asia from Bandung. Baiquni stated that the incident caused anything between 10 to 20 minutes delays in flight arrivals.

On Tuesday (Feb. 11), Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air and Air Asia postponed their flights to Pekanbaru, Riau, as haze from forest and plantation fires have reduced visibility to 500 meters.

Earlier it was reported that the air in Riau province, especially in Dumai city and Siak district, is on a dangerous level for local people to breathe, following continuous forest fires that have happened in the area.

"Even now thick haze from the forest fire is covering the two areas. According to Index of Air Pollution Standard (ISPU), the air quality in Dumai city and Siak district is on 485 Psi levels, which is considered as very unhealthy and hazardous," Siak districts Chief for Air Quality Control Affairs Irma Suryani stated here on Tuesday.

Spokesman from Riau provinces Health Office Dewani also confirmed the hazardous level of air quality in both the areas in Riau province. She suggested that people stay indoors until the air quality came back to normal.

The government of Riau province had earlier announced a close down of schools on February 11 and 12, following worsening air pollution in the area.

Meanwhile the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) noted that there were 81 hot spots in Riau province namely 26 spots in Bengkalis district, 14 spots in Indragiri Hilir, 13 spots in Siak district, 13 spots in Pelalawan, five in Rokan Hilir, four in kampar district, five in Meranti district and one in Dunai city.

The agency stated that the visibility in the morning is only about 500 meters ahead.

Reporting by FB Anggoro
Translating and Editing by Amie Fenia Arimbi
EDITED BY INE


Editor: Aditia Maruli

Sumatra hot spots on the increase, warnings of haze
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post 11 Feb 14;

The latest satellite observation reveals that the number of hot spots in Sumatra has risen significantly from the previous 62 to 297 hot spots around the island, an official says. He added that the largest number was detected in North Sumatra province, with 142 spots.

“Our Terra and Aqua satellites have detected 297 hot spots around Sumatra, a significant increase on yesterday’s number, which was only 62 spots,” analyst at the Riau office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Bibin Sulianto, said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara newswire.

These hot spots usually originate from land-clearing activities done by farmers or plantation companies. The land is cleared by slash-and-burn prior to farming or plantation. Most Sumatra provinces have entered the first phase of the dry season by now, which will last until March.

BMKG also raised concerns about haze. According to BMKG, the visibility at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport was only 500 meters on Tuesday morning, described as critical, far below the minimum requirement of at least 1,500 meters.

“The haze combined with fog is the main cause,” Bibin said.

He said the BMKG would join forces with other related institutions like the Health Agency, Environmental Agency, the police and Forestry Agency to minimize the damage.(dic)

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