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Calls for stronger protection of Brantas River grow as local fish face extinction
A study conducted by Ecological Observation and Wetland Conservation (Ecoton) last year found only seven types of local fish currently inhabiting the downstream area of the Brantas River. Ten years ago, Ecoton researchers had documented up to 13 species of local fish in the same area.
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A microscope picture of a fish stomach taken from the Brantas River shows that the fish has digested plastic fibers and fragments. (Courtesy of Ecoton/-)
T
he Nusantara Freshwater Fish Lovers Community (Kopipa) has called on the East Java administration to take stronger measures to protect the Brantas River, one of the province’s longest rivers, as severe pollution has caused the extinction of at least half of native fish species in the river.
On Monday, dozens of Kopipa activists protested by floating replicas of the locally extinct Hampala barb fish down the Surabaya section of the Kalimas River, a tributary of the Brantas.
Activist coordinator Jofan Ahmad said the Brantas River, a nationally strategic waterway, was now in a critical state.
“Insufficient government oversight of industrial waste, plastic pollution and riverside settlements has severely threatened the survival of the Brantas River’s native fish species,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Kurnia Rahmawati, a fish and culture researcher from Ecological Observation and Wetland Conservation (Ecoton), said a study conducted by the organization last year found only seven types of local fish currently inhabiting the downstream area of the Brantas River. Ten years ago, Ecoton researchers had documented 13 species of local fish in the same area.
The local fish species that have disappeared include the Schilbeid catfish (Laides longibarbis), bronze featherback (Notopterus notopterus), hampala barb (Hampala macrolepidota), cyprinid fish (Osteochilus hasseltii) and ray-finned fish (Macrognathus aculeatus).
"Indonesia is known as the second-largest fish producer in the world after China, but unfortunately, it is also one of the countries experiencing the second-largest rate of freshwater fish extinction, following the Philippines," Kurnia said.
