A

Bali-based local company breaks new ground in the fishery business by implementing environmentally friendly fishing practices for sustainability purposes amid fears of environmental threats.

Environmental activists are concerned that over and destructive fishing are threatening the marine ecosystem.

UD Pulau Mas, a company that exports live reef fish to Hong Kong, was hailed a role model on sustainable fish catching practices and trading during the international workshop on “Market-Based Improvement on Live Reef Fish Food Trade” that ended Thursday.

The workshop was organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.

Located near Benoa Harbor and established in 1996, the company currently holds 30 percent market share of the live reef fish export market to Hong Kong. It exported a total of 210 tons of live reef fish last year and around 250 tons in 2009.

WWF media officer Aulia Rahman said sustainable practice was the key to maintain its business and keep the fish population at their fishing zones at a normal level amid overfishing and destructive fishing in many areas in Indonesia.

“Pulau Mas is one of few companies that have committed to adopt an international standard in the live reef fish trade to improve its product quality. This international standard is welcomed by importing countries,” she said.

Growing market demands for consumption have threatened the population of reef fish species and the entire marine ecosystem in the area of the Coral Triangle Initiative, experts said.

Trade of live reef fish sourced from the marine nursery area is one of the most lucrative seafood industries in the Asia Pacific, but also one of the biggest threats to the coastal and marine environment.

Overfishing and destructive fishing practices, such as the use of cyanide and explosives are being driven by an increasing demand for seafood across Asia-Pacific. These practices are exacerbated by the lack of effective systems to sustainably manage the industry.

Up to 70 percent of reef fish in some places in the region are being taken from the ocean before they have the opportunity to mature and reproduce, and this will have devastating effects on the ocean food chain in the long term.

“Moreover, the negative impacts of mismanaged trade on fish stock are now apparent. There has been a move of the fish catching area from the western part of Indonesia to the eastern. There is a decreasing fish stock in the western marine and fishermen are looking for new sources in the eastern,” said Pulau Mas owner Heru Purnomo.

This fact has driven Pulau Mas to adopt a regulation from Australia that determines the minimum
size of fish allowed for catching is 600 grams.

“We have applied a regulation for fishermen. We don’t accept fish caught using explosives or cyanide. And we don’t accept fish weighing less than 600 grams,” Heru said, adding that the fish should be wild catch, not raised in a hatchery.

He said the minimum size should be above 600 grams so as to allow the fish to mature and reproduce. The company exports between one to three tons of kerapu fish every shipment.

With the population of reef fish under threat, Heru expects the government to make a specific regulation on the live reef fish trade to ensure sustainability.