Endemic fish restocking to restore wild population in Kampar river
- Kampar, Riau. The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a restocking of tens of thousands of endemic fish in the Sangolan river, Kampar Regency, Riau Province. It was part of an effort to protect endemic fish from extinction while at the same time ensuring food security in the future.
The symbolic restocking in the Sangolan river was carried out by the FAO Representative for Indonesia and Timor Leste, Rajendra Aryal, the Secretary General of the MMAF, Antam Novambar, the Regent of Kampar, Catur Sugeng Susanto, as well as representatives from stakeholders. They released 10,000 fries of Masheer (Tor tobroides) and 80,000 (Hemibagrus mierus) fries of Baung.
Rajendra Aryal hoped that inland aquatic activities under FAO-IFish Project in Kampar could provide benefits for improving the community livelihood and environmental sustainability. The project which is a collaboration between MMAF and FAO with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is expected to increase the provision of ecosystem goods and services and enhance food security for local people dependent on inland fisheries for their livelihoods.
The restocking activity is in line with Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono direction, that fishing activities must be carried out in a measurable manner so that they are in line with the principles of a sustainable blue economy. As the representative of MMAF, Antam Novambar encouraged stakeholders to start thinking in the long term regarding the fate of fish resources, especially local fish in Indonesia whose natural population is decreasing, as happened to Masheer and Baung in Kampar.
Head of BRSDM I Nyoman Radiarta explained that Kampar River has a high diversity of fish species. In 2010, about 58 species were found in the Kampar Kanan River and 86 species were found in the Kampar Kiri River and one of them was the baung fish. However, the diversity of these fish species had decreased by 42% and in 2015, only 36 species were identified.
"This is due to the large number of fishing activities that exceed the carrying capacity of the Kampar River itself. Strategic steps - such as restocking - are needed to ensure and maintain the existence of these fish stocks in their endemic rivers," explained Nyoman.
As additional information, from the results of stock assessment studies of Baung in the Kampar River at three sampling locations, namely Buluh Cina Village (lake), Kampar Regency; Maktedoh Village (flooded swamp) Pelalawan Regency; Meranti Village (Kampar river), Pelalawan Regency; shows that the exploitation rate is already at 0.81 which is greater than the 0.5 limit. This shows that there is overfishing. Thus, efforts are needed to reduce fishing activities and restore Baung fish resources in their natural habitat.
Releasing fish fries in Kampar. ©FAO/Yohanes Jaya
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FAOR for Indonesia, MMAF General Secretary and Head of Kampar District releasing Baung and Masheer fish fries in Sangolan river, Kampar, Riau Province. ©FAO/Irwan Hidayatullah