Ganug Nugroho Adi The Jakarta Post 24 Aug 16;
Thousands of red tilapia and common carp in bamboo cages belonging to fish farmers at Kedungombo Dam, Sragen, Central Java, have died over the past two days.
The farmers suspect extreme weather was the cause.
Daryono Gundul, one fish cage owner, said the most of the dead fish were found in Ngasinan village. In the past two days, 15 to 25 tons of fish died had each day.
“Each farmer has suffered different levels of loss, starting from hundreds of thousands of rupiah to tens of millions of rupiah,” Daryono said.
Mitra Tani suffered the biggest loss, he said, because the owner moved his aquaculture cages too late.
Ngargotirto village head, whose name is also Daryono, said every year in Kedungombo fish in aquaculture cages died. Change in weather caused fungus that killed the fish. He said the fungus came from the sedimentation and residue of fish feed, which rose from the bottom of the dam in extreme weather.
Besides moving the cages to edge of the dam, farmers also supplied oxygen by creating air circulation using pumps.
Another farmer, Suharno, said some of the dead fish were cut into pieces for feed while others were buried.
Suharno said there were 81 fish farmers with 1,600 cages in Ngasinan village alone. Each day the village produced 5 to 7 tons of fish per day to meet demand from Surakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali. (evi)
Farmers suffer losses as fish die
Sragen Jakarta Post 25 Aug 16;
Tens of thousands of fish in fishing cages in the Kedungombo Resevoir in Sumberlawang, Sragen, Central Java, have died in the past two days, apparently due to extreme weather.
Fisherman Daryono Gundul confirmed that 15 to 25 tons of fish died in the past few days, leaving the fishermen with millions of rupiah in financial losses.
“Each fisherman may have suffered [losses of] millions of rupiah depending on the differences in the number of dead fish,” he added.
He said the Mitra Tani cooperative suffered the biggest financial loss as its operator was late to pull out the fishing cage.
Ngargotirto village head Daryono said the significant loss of fish in Kedungombo was an annual phenomenon. Strong wind disturbed the water, making the sediment in the bottom of the reservoir rise, thus poisoning the fish, he added.
“The muddy water means a lack of oxygen for the fish. They will also get poisoned by food residue from the sediment,” Daryono said.
He said some fish farmers managed to save their fish by pulling their cages out of the water in time.
At least 500 fish cages had been pulled out of the water. Other fish farmers used air pumps to circulate oxygen into the water to help the fish survive the poisoning.
“The moment I saw numerous dead fish, I immediately pulled out the fish cages to prevent any more from dying,” he said.
