I

can confirm that Michael Ishak (“Fishermen blast premier dive sites off Indonesia”, The Jakarta Post Online, April 20) is correct about the bomb damage on Tatawa Besar and I thank him for speaking out on this matter.

In my view it is one of the best places in the world to dive and enjoy beautiful, natural and unique scenery.

However these are facts:

The park authorities have been patrolling and have arrested many illegal fisherman but, in my opinion, there have not been enough daily patrols in the park.

I see more fishing boats, but I rarely see patrols. Maybe this is a funding issue in Jakarta.

Bombs, cyanide and other destructive fishing methods are used within Komodo National Park.

Diver damage is potentially causing more damage to some sites than bomb fishing, due to operators taking people to sites when the current is too strong for certain individuals to dive.

My experience tells me that people with gloves and reef hooks are causing the majority of this damage.

Dive boats are anchoring on Karang Makassar reef (Manta point).

Dive boats guests, crew and sport fishing boats are fishing within the national park.

Dive boats are making tours onto the beach in Horseshoe Bay, south Rinca, and feeding komodo dragons to make it easier for guests to take photos.

There are dive boats that do the annual docking within Komodo National Park; this is crazy and a disregard to the environment.

There is no local community education program running.

There is no monitoring of any kind to the effect of more and more tourists coming into the park.

There is no effort by the majority of local and seasonal operators to train local people, especially from the villages inside of the park.

The situation is that if the park authorities do not act on these matters, then very soon we will be wishing we did something about it and not seeing ourselves as part of the problem is very dangerous.

It is so easy to point the finger at the national park about many issues, while at the same time fishing boats have been anchored on one of Komodo’s most famous dive sites.

We need daily patrols or permanent ranger posts with fast-response boats to take preventive action against illegal fishing practices.

More moorings need to be placed and broken ones fixed, so that there is no excuse for boats to anchor on dive sites.

Every business and guide operating in this area should be respecting and enforcing park rules.

The rules and regulations are all in Indonesian law; we just do not have enforcement of any kind daily.

The fact is that Komodo National Park is one of the best places in the world to dive and with the law enforced it will be for many years to come.

Christopher Bates
Komodo Island, East Nusa Tenggara