Indonesian fishing license moratorium needs to be backed with reduced fishing effort – WWF

Indonesia is implementing a moratorium on new licenses for trawl and purse seine fisheries this month until the status of their declining fish stocks fully recover.

“While recognizing this as an initial step towards the right direction, we would like to see this supplemented by an immediate reduction in fishing effort and strong enforcement of “no take” zones to help fully exploited fish stocks in the Coral Triangle to recover” says Dr Lida Pet-Soede, WWF Coral Triangle Programme Head.   

“We would also like to seek further clarification on the criteria being used to determine stock recovery and how this is will be evaluated. WWF is willing to participate and contribute to this process” adds Dr Pet-Soede.

As of 2007, more than 10,000 trawlers and 22,000 purse seiners have been found in Indonesian waters. These numbers have likely grown in the past few years alone, largely contributing to overfishing, mostly of fully exploited juvenile tunas, and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the area (IUU).

“These existing fishing fleets are highly capable of bringing already fully exploited fish stocks to an even greater overfished state” adds Dr. Pet-Soede.  

Trawling, which can catch as much as 30 tons of fish in a single operation, was banned nationally in 1980 but was once again made legal two years later, specifically in the Arafuru Seas in Papua.

In 2008, a regulation to allow shrimp trawling in the East Kalimantan province was issued.

Today, demersal fish stocks and shrimp are fully exploited and overfished in the Arafuru Seas. Similar results have occurred in the Flores Seas and Makassar Strait in East Kalimantan.

Purse seining has likewise become an issue in Indonesian fisheries. As much as 57% of skipjack, 71% of yellowfin and 75% of bigeye tunas caught by Indonesian purse seiners are juvenile and fully exploited. 

Purse seining of small pelagic fish, or free swimming open ocean species like Skipjack tuna and sardines in Indonesia accounts for as much as 80% of the total catch in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. This however also includes big pelagic fish, which have been overfished in the Sulawesi Seas and Pacific Ocean. Pelagic fish, both big and small, have now been classified as fully exploited in Indonesia.

Indonesia is regionally part of what is known as the Coral Triangle, the world’s centre of marine life. This region contains spawning and nursery grounds and migratory routes for commercially-valuable tuna species such as bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and albacore, producing more than 40% of the total catch for the Western Central Pacific region, and representing more than 20% of the total global catch.

Tuna in the Coral Triangle, which spans the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, supports the economies of many developing nations and represents the livelihoods of millions of people in this region and beyond.

“This moratorium on new fishing licenses for trawlers and purse seiners will certainly stop the bleeding but not the wound, so to speak. A reduction in current fishing capacity is key to addressing problems of overfishing and bycatch of juvenile tunas in the Coral Triangle.” 


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Note:

• The Coral Triangle—the nursery of the seas—is the most diverse marine region on the planet, matched in its importance to life on Earth only by the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin. Defined by marine areas containing more than 500 species of reef-building coral, it covers around 6 million square kilometres of ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacific – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.
• It is home to 3,000 species of reef fish and commercially-valuable species such as tuna, whales, dolphins, rays, sharks, and 6 of the 7 known species of marine turtles.
• The Coral Triangle also directly sustains the lives of more than 120 million people and contains key spawning and nursery grounds for tuna, while healthy reef and coastal systems underpin a growing tourism sector. WWF is working with other NGOs, multilateral agencies and governments around the world to support conservation efforts in the Coral Triangle for the benefit of all.
• For information on Coral Triangle go to: www.panda.org/coraltriangle 

For further information:

Dr Lida Pet-Soede, Head, WWF Coral Triangle Programme (Bali, Indonesia), Email: lper@wallacea@wwf.or.id, Tel: +628123818741
Paolo P. Mangahas, Communications Manager, WWF Coral Triangle Programme (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Email: pmangahas@wwf.org.my, Tel: +60378033772
Dewi Satriani, Marine Communications, WWF-Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia), Email: dsatriani@wwf.or.id , Tel: +62811910970

Reward offered for definned Tingloy Whale Shark poachers in Batangas

WWF-Philippines and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) have announced a reward of P100,000 to any person who provides information leading to the identification and arrest of the parties involved in the mutilation and de-finning of the Tingloy whale shark.

Text your name with complete information on the location of the boat and whale shark fins to WWF at: 0917-883-4207. Help us stamp out the illegal wildlife trade to protect our natural heritage.

Caption A - Divers inspect the ailing whale shark on the afternoon of

15 February. (Contributed WWF photo)

Any taker? I wonder how much the reward is....

But with or without the reward, I enjoin all Batanguenos and Batanguenas, home province of some of the valiant heroes and heroines of the Philippine Revolution and of the Filipino-American War to do their part in preserving whatever is left of Earth and its diverse species.

Original story here or here.

Batangas Whale Shark poachers condemned, WWF calls for enhanced enforcement of conservation laws

LAST February 15, 1010, alert divers in Batangas found the  grisly sight of a floating, mutilated dying, whale shark with its fins removed. According to World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), it condemns the poachers who did the illegal act--as well as all poachers who continue to defy conservation laws.  The conservation group calls on all sectors to step up enforcement efforts throughout the Philippine Islands.. WWF's Conservation Programmes VP Joel Palma warns that the many poachers at large "will not be at rest just because we are.”

Caption A - Divers inspect the ailing whale shark on the afternoon of

15 February. (Contributed WWF photo)

Press release from WWF:

Batangas, the Philippines – An 18-foot long whale shark (Rhincodon typus), de-finned and fighting for life, was found floating belly-up amidst the rough waters of Bahay Kambing, a sheltered cove in the municipality of Tingloy. Its twin pairs of dorsal and pectoral fins were neatly sliced off – the soft, white flesh glistening in the morning rays. Knife-marks were evident all over its tail – mercifully too think to cut through.

“Scuba divers from Mabini’s Acacia Resort first discovered the mutilated shark on the morning of 15 February,” recounts Casita Isabel resort owner Linda Reyes-Romualdez. “The shark was towed to nearby Caban cove, whose waters were more placid. Together with a Bantay Dagat unit, volunteers splinted the shark by flanking it with bamboo poles and installing a net underneath to minimize further injuries. We wanted to ease its pain.”

Sadly, its wounds were too great – and the shark, nicknamed Tingloy Baby, died the next day. The incident came right after the conclusion of the third Convention on Migratory Species for Sharks, held in Manila from 8 to 12 February. The talks were held to safeguard shark populations in the Indo-Pacific region. Tingloy Baby was laid to rest in Caban cove. It did not die alone nor in vain.

Batangas Fishers Possible Culprits

Bantay Dagat units from Mabini reported that for several days, fishing vessels equipped with powerful strobe lights have been operating in Mabini waters, sometimes as close as 300 meters from shore. Responding to complaints from local resorts, the Bantay Dagat and local police asked the fishers – reportedly from Lemery, Batangas – to leave. They did.

Several nights later, the fishermen returned, this time in the adjacent municipality of Tingloy. Mabini did not respond directly, for the area was under Tingloy’s jurisdiction. The fishing went on until concerned divers informed Mabini of the grisly discovery.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Malcolm Sarmiento said a full investigation will be conducted to find and prosecute the culprits. Sarmiento has committed BFAR’s support until a better enforcement strategy can be developed between the twin towns of Mabini and Tingloy.


“WWF condemns the perpetrators of this illegal act,” declares WWF-Philippines Conservation Programmes Vice-President Joel Palma. “This is a real eye-opener, for it proves that the slaughter of endangered species – even one as big as a butanding – can still take place if we let our guards down. The public and private sectors must come together to refine and polish current conservation mechanisms.”

Once Hunted, Now Legally Protected

Filipinos have hunted whale sharks for decades, the waters off Bohol, Misamis Oriental and Sorsogon once fishing grounds for butanding hunters. Shark fins and meat are usually exported to China, Hongkong and Taiwan. Whale shark flesh, called ‘Tofu meat’ sells for roughly $8 (P360) per kilogramme, while dried shark fins are valued a hundred times more – approximately $800 (P36,000) per kilogramme.

Caption B - A clearer view of Tingloy Baby, with its dorsal and
pectoral fins shorn off. It died on the morning of the 16th.
(Contributed WWF photo)

BFAR reported that at least 200 whale sharks were slaughtered in 1997 alone. On 15 January 1999, 64 boxes labelled as Lapu-lapu or grouper meat made it through the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and were shipped to Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities later informed authorities that the boxes contained whale shark meat. WWF has long spearheaded whale shark conservation in the Philippines, and together with the DENR and BFAR successfully lobbied for their legal protection – which took effect in1998.

Whale sharks are now classified by the IUCN as vulnerable and are protected by Philippine law under Republic Act 8550 and Fisheries Administrative Order 193. The possession or slaughter of a single whale shark merits a maximum jail term of four years, coupled with a maximum fine of P10,000 and the cancellation of the offending party’s fishing licenses. Whale sharks accidentally caught in fishing gear must be immediately released, while whale sharks which have drifted to shore must be surrendered to the nearest BFAR office. Manta rays (Manta birostris) are also covered by the order.

WWF calls for all sectors to step up enforcement efforts nationwide. Adds Palma, “More poachers are out there – and they will not be at rest just because we are.”

Shared Responsibility between Public & Private Sector Crucial

Says WWF-Philippines Vice-chair and CEO Lory Tan, “The challenges that face Mabini and Tingloy are founded on a persistent dissonance between the expectations of the private sector versus the capacity and interest of the public sector to deliver on those expectations. The years have proven that government cannot do this alone. The apparent lack of clear, self-triggering procedures stands in the way of improved cohesion. A sense of shared responsibility, though obvious with some, is not common to all. A much more participative public-private framework, with rigorous standards for accountability may provide the way forward. Unless we resolve the disjoint that exists between expectation and delivery, these problems will recur.”

For more information contact:
Gregg Yan
Communicator, WWF-Philippines
0917-833-4734
gyan@wwf.org.ph

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Update here:

Reward offered for definned Tingloy Whale Shark poachers in Batangas