A

strong>April 20, Online

Coral gardens that were among Asia’s most spectacular, teeming with colorful sea life just a few months ago, have been transformed into desolate gray moonscapes by fishermen who use explosives or cyanide to kill or stun their prey.

Dive operators and conservationists say the government is not doing enough to protect waters off the
Komodo Islands in eastern Indonesia. They say enforcement declined greatly following the exit of a US-based environmental group that helped fight destructive fishing practices.

Local officials disagree, pointing to dozens of arrests and several deadly gunbattles with suspects.

Michael Ishak, a scuba instructor and professional underwater photographer who has made hundreds of trips to the area, said he’s seen more illegal fishermen than ever this year.

The pictures, he said, speak for themselves.

When Ishak returned last month to one of his favorite spots, Tatawa Besar, known for its colorful clouds of damselfish, basslets and hawksbill sea turtles, he found that a 500-square-meter section of the reef had been obliterated.

Your comments:

I’m amazed the Indonesian government is allowing this to go on. Clearly, they are more interested in ‘saving face’, coming up with poor excuses and biased statistics instead of addressing the problem directly.

Shame on you, this is our global heritage being destroyed.
Davedub
Hove, UK

The TNC, PNK, all the drama with the BTNK: It’s all in the past. Bringing those up won’t bring any good, it will only make people defensive. The national park ranger has put in big efforts to keep the park, without the hardcore Chuck Norris-style action.

The bombing fishermen have backup from a big guy somewhere in Sumbawa. It is a mafia. The big guy supplies them with bombs (and rifles) and those fishermen (and deer hunters) split the profits with those who back them. It is a conspiracy in high places.

Unless we catch the whole syndicate and the root has been cut, these trees will keep growing.

In the past, education and persuasion worked. If they can’t understand or don’t want to understand, we have to make them understand with any force necessary.
Matheus SN Siagian
Labuan Bajo, NTT

I saw the video. The sadness is overwhelming. I visit Indonesia for the diving and because reefs have not yet been destroyed like so much of the world. What a tragedy, what a waste. To destroy something that cannot be replaced for a single boat load of fish is beyond forgivable. It is also financially a bad deal.

Divers bring millions of dollars in tourism to Indonesia every year. A boat load of fish is worth a few thousand dollars. Protection means income for Indonesia forever.

Take away the reef and the country gets nothing. Morally, most people don’t care mostly about what they do not see. But the same people will care about losing money. Do the math, Indonesia. Realize what is valuable about your country. Then speak up and protect your land and water.
Jason Jacques
New York

As a diving operator with 12 years of experience diving the reefs of Komodo-Rinca, one of the richest and most bio-diverse ecosystems in the planet, I must say I haven’t seen much reinforcement of the laws that apply to a national park, namely not fishing with destructive techniques, correct mooring procedures and disposal of garbage.

I have seen its reefs being steadily destroyed year after year, in spite of the fact that day after day, every diver we bring to the area pays the designated fees.

In particular, at the end of the summer season, when the operators move away to other areas such as Maluku and Papua, the fishermen have the park absolutely to themselves, free from the presence of the diving operators that somehow act as deterrent for these practices, since patrols are literally nonexistent.

So when the new season starts around spring, new damage can be seen in the reefs every year. This damage is irreplaceable, because the rubble created by blast fishing produces a loose subtract where new coral will never grow back in a million years, no matter what you do to it.

And when that happens, we all lose: fishermen, divers and the world as a whole. Where the money from the fees goes remains a mystery, but the current situation in this World Heritage Site is certainly shameful. Here goes my support for a reinforced full no-take zone for Komodo National Park now.
Ricard Buxo
Barcelona, Catalonia

We just came up from a dive there, and it is now a desert — and will be that way for, at best, 30 years. On the other hand, Castle Rock is still pristine. For God sake, let’s try to save that before it gets blasted into oblivion.
Eric
Bali

Yes, it makes the most sense to return the park to a 100 percent no-take zone. That is the wise choice, not without some problems, but those are small compared to the devastation it would prevent.

Komodo is unlike any other place, and the living creatures there that cannot protect themselves need our help. Now is the time to act. Conservation is the key. We must continue to use it to open the doors to the future.
David Pascoe
Santa Rosa

Yes, it’s quite shocking that Indonesia’s proud entry to the 7th Wonder of the World competition is treated with such contempt.Many good comments have been made, especially about raising the entrance fee if that helps raise more funds for effective patrols of the park. Komodo is equally unique above and below the water, its one of the few places still left reasonably intact in a country where wholesale destruction of coral reefs and mass overfishing is happening everywhere. Komodo, in my opinion and that of many others, is the crown jewel. Keep it safe and it will replenish the areas around it for generations to come.

Any fisher would find it very difficult to get an answer to the question: “Am I allowed to fish in Komodo, and, if so, where?”How do you expect them to do the right thing? Education and the will to patrol are urgently needed.
Chris Paporakis
Denpasar

If everything is destroyed, there will be nothing for fishermen nor for tourists. Please protect Komodo.
Valérie Baudart Mornet
France

Indonesians should run their own agencies. If they aren’t doing a good job, they have to be ready to be called on it, especially when it’s a tourist attraction. If there was a regular presence of patrols, and illegal fishing is still an issue, then they need to increase patrols. Granted fuel costs are getting higher, but if the park revenues aren’t enough (along with UNESCO funds for World Heritage status) then increase the fees and make sure patrols do the job.

I applaud the various people bringing this news to light and hope the Indonesian government acts for their own people.
Drew W
Los Angeles