Background
Urban and Regional Planning deals with the utilization of limited natural resources scattered on the surface and inside the earth. Although in general those resources are differentiated as renewable and non-renewable resources, basically the sustainability of all natural resources is threatened by human behavior in utilizing them. Therefore, it is important to all planners to consider environmental aspect in preparing their plan concerning regional or urban development.
One of threatened natural resources is fisheries resources. It may sound ridiculous since fisheries resource can be classified as renewable resources. However, the recent condition of fisheries resources delivered by scientific journals, websites, reports etc shows that something that may never happen be able to be a reality in not very long time. In fact, several months ago, I read an interesting report with shocking title; “No More Fish to eat in 40 Years”. Honestly, at the beginning I thought that the writer just want to exaggerate the condition. Unfortunately, I should put more attention to this issue after surfing in several websites containing world fisheries resources management.
People may think that this issue only affects to those who eat fish as their primary protein source or those who live from fisheries sector, like my self for example. However, the importance of fisheries resources conservation can be seen from WWF’s statement about the value of fish. This international organization regard that fish are infinitely more valuable that diamonds and gold to over a billion people worldwide (http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/index.cfm , 2008).
This condition is based on the following facts:
• Fish contribute to the food supply, economy, and health of many nations;
• Fish and seafood products are among the most widely traded commodities, worth billions of dollars annually;
• Fishing is a major source of employment: over 38 million people rely directly on fisheries for employment, most supporting families and communities;
• A billion people rely on marine fish as an important source of protein
(http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/index.cfm, 2008).
The main threat of fisheries resources comes from human behavior occurring in form of overfishing which has already happened in several fishing grounds in the world. In fact FAO reported that 52% of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited, and 24% are overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. It also reported that as many as 90% of all the ocean’s large fish have been fished out and several important commercial fish populations have declined to the point where their survival is threatened. These conditions lead to a prediction that stocks of all species currently fished for food are predicted to collapse by 2048, unless the current situation improves (http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/index.cfm, 2008). Perhaps it is the main reason for me to put more attention to this issue which will be briefly discussed in this short paper.
The Impacts of Overfishing
Although there are several definitions of overfishing, it can be defined as the practice of commercial and non-commercial fishing which depletes a fishery by catching so many adult fish that not enough remain to breed and replenish the population. Overfishing exceeds the carrying capacity of a fishery. (http://www.lehigh.edu/~kaf3/books/reporting/glossary.html, 2008). In simple word, overfishing is a condition when we catch too many fish more than it supposed to be or too many fishing activities that make the fish can not sustain their population. This condition happens due to the number of fishing fleet all over the world. According to Porter G (1998) , the global fishing fleet is currently 2.5x larger than what the oceans can sustainably support. (http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/index.cfm, 2008). In fact, some scientists stated that on a global scale we have enough fishing capacity to cover at least four Earth like (http://overfishing.org/pages/what_is_overfishing.php). It means that humans are taking much more fish out of the ocean than can be replaced by those which remain.
It can be say that overfishing is biggest single threat to marine ecosystems which eventually cause environment degradation. It causes not only fish population reduction but also fish diversity reduction. This condition leads to two serious problems; the lost of species as well as entire ecosystems and the lost of a valuable food source in which many people depend upon for social, economical or dietary reasons. (http://overfishing.org/pages/what_is_overfishing.php, 2008).
Overfishing activity doesn’t only affect the targeted species but also other species living in the area due to the damage of food chain or food web. The reduction or extinction of certain species will affect both the lower and the higher level in multilevel food chain. Degradation in marine ecosystem also occurs in form of fish species diversity and size. In 2004 I was a participant in “The Demonstration and Training on By-Catch Reduction Device held by FAO and SEAFDEC (South East Asia Fisheries Development Center)” in Indian Ocean off Sibolga’s coast. Some of participants from Thailand were surprised to see the size of flounder fish caught during the training. Rarely do they catch this kind of fish with that size in Gulf of Siam due to the severe environment damage in the area. Gulf of Siam is another example of overexploited fishing ground in the world.
Like many other environment degradation, overfishing also produces economic impacts to people, especially in coastal fishing communities. The most famous story about this condition occur in Newfoundland, Canada where cod fishery in Grand Bank provides jobs for 110,000 people in fishing and fish processing industry until the early of 1990s. The tragedy started in 1992 when the cod fishery was finally deemed to have collapsed causing some 40,000 people lost their jobs overnight, including 10,000 fishermen. The fishing ground in Grand Bank has still not recovered more than 10 years later. In fact, the latest research indicates that the ecosystem has now substantially changed. It means that cod fishery industry in Grand Bank, Newfoundland Canada may only a history (http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/problems_fishing/index.cfm, 2008, National Geographic, 2007). Honestly, this condition has been predicted in 1998 – 1999 when I worked together with 3 Newfoundland fishermen in a fishing project in Java Sea. They warned me about the over fishing tragedy in Newfoundland that may also happen in Java Sea. Other examples of economic impact of overfishing are The Peruvian coastal anchovy fisheries and the sole (Solea solea) fisheries in the Irish Sea and West English Channel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing, 2008).
The Factors Causing Overfishing
Although there are several factors causing over fishing, the combination of fishing technology advances, destructive fishing techniques and poor regulation of fisheries management is the primary factor affecting fisheries resources degradation. The fishing technology advances occur in form of fishing vessel development with electronic equipment for fish finding such as SONAR and Echo sounder, and fishing gear development such as Bottom Trawl Net which is not only the most effective fishing gear but also the most destructive one. The destructive fishing techniques reflect in use of bomb and poison. Moreover, the dumping of by-catch in shrimp trawler also can be classified as destructive activity in fishing. Eventually, the poor regulation in fisheries management has worsened the condition which happens mostly in developing country like Indonesia.
In fishing technology advances, trawl net may be the most progressive fishing gear. The trawl net is basically a large bag made of netting which is drawn along the sea bed to scoop up fish on the near the bottom. It has a triangle-like shape with opening mouth up to 60 meter width; meanwhile the length of the net itself can reach up to 120 meter. To maximize the opening mouth, trawl net is completed by float in upper side of the mouth and metal chain in the lower side of the mouth as the sinkers. The gear is connected by wire to the wooden or steel otter boards to spread net open. The otter boards are connected to the vessel by towing warp. The vessel tows the drawn net along the sea bed. There are various type of trawl net based on its construction and its operation, such as pelagic trawl net, stern trawl net, etc.( Sainsbury, John C. 1986., Garner, John. 1988)
During the operation trawl net scoops up anything in front of its track. Any type of marine creatures will be caught and collected in cod end of the net, including the rare sea turtles. This gear will also damage the sea bed including coral reef and other marine ecosystem. This condition is getting worse in shrimp trawler operation. As its name, the main target of this gear in marine shrimp (pennaeus sp and monodon sp), thus all unnecessary catch (by-catch) such as low economic value fish will be thrown to the sea again since there is no enough room in the vessel’s fish holds. The ration between by-catch (unwanted catch) and the target catch in Shrimp trawler operating in Arafura Sea is approximately 19:1 (Naamin and Sumiono in Wahyu, 2006). It means that from 20 tons of catch only 1 ton of shrimp as the targeted catch. The rest, 19 tons of fish, is the by-catch product or unwanted catch and will be dumped in to the sea again.
Regulation and MSC System for Fisheries Resources Management
The operation of shrimp trawler is prohibited in Indonesia waters except for Eastern Indonesia Water limited by 1300 East Altitude to the East based on President Decree No.85 of 1982. Moreover, the shrimp trawl net also must be attached by Turtle Excluder Device (TED) or By-Catch Excluder Device (BED) in the upper side of back of the net. The purpose of those devices is to minimize the unwanted catch, low economic value fish and to save the protected marine species such as sea turtles. However, it is very difficult to monitor this regulation implementation on the field due to the limitation of monitoring and surveillance system operated by the government institutions (Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries and Indonesia Navy).
Like other extractive industries from natural resources, such as mining and forestry, regulation and monitoring surveillance control system (MSC System) play very important role in fisheries resources management. Regulation occurs mostly in form of permit allocation. Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries (MoMAF) implement cautious principle in issuing fishing permit for shrimp trawler in Eastern Indonesia Waters. Up to 2007, MoMAF had issued 341 permits of 423 permit allocations for shrimp trawler. Moreover, the institution also enacted a high fishing fee for this type of fishing gear, the highest one in fact among the fishing fees enacted for fishing permit in Indonesia Waters.
According to Law Number 31 of 2004 concerning Fisheries, fishing fee is a levy that must be pay by fishing company or fishing entrepreneur as a compensation for the permit given to them in utilizing fisheries resources. Fishing fee is Non State Revenue Income (PNBP) from fisheries sector. The regulation also enacted that this revenue must be use for the fisheries resources conservation and fisheries development purpose. Moreover, based on Government Rule Number 19 of 2006 concerning Non-State Income (PNBP) tariff in Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries, Fishing Fee tariff enactment is based on the price of the fish caught by the fishing gear. It means that the fee is based on Market Price Method of Monetary-Based Ecosystem Valuation Method. Market Price Method is a method that estimates economic values for ecosystem products or services that are bought and sold in commercial markets. In simple word, the fee only consider about the selling price of the fish instead of environment damage created by the utilization process. It seems necessary for the government in the future to consider about environmental damage as additional fee for shrimp trawler permit. Hopefully, the additional fee will help the government in developing and strengthening Monitoring Surveillance Control (MSC) system in fisheries resources utilization. The combination of Straight Regulation and MSC System is the key in preventing the sustainability of our natural resources. Government regulation occurs in form of restricted fishing permit allocation for shrimp trawler or implementation of fishing season in threatened fishing grounds. Meanwhile, MSC system will be conducted in Vessel Monitoring System, and intensification of patrol boat operation.
