The coral reef resources of Komodo National Park are most seriously
threatened by fishing communities from Sape, South Flores and Sulawesi
who reap a stunning 83% of the fishing yields from Komodo National Park.
One of the largest threats to the reef resources of the Park by these outside
groups is over-fishing through the use of hookah compressors. Because
hookah compressors are used for destructive fishing practices, the local
government has outlawed this fishing gear. Cyanide fishing and blast-fishing,
which are performed in conjunction with hookah diving still persists although
the incidents of blast fishing have dropped 80% since 1996 when
enforcement patrols became active in the Park. Various other fishing gear
such as bottom long-lines and heavy hook-and-line also threaten to decimate
predatory fish populations such as sharks and groupers. The use of gill nets
threaten many kinds of fish, turtles and marine mammals. Reef gleaning by
Park residents is also a problem on shallow reefs in and around the Park
although this destructive activity seems to be decreasing over recent years.
Increasing marine pollution and tourism, on the other hand, may threaten
the coral reefs in Komodo National Park if coastal development and tourism
development is not managed properly.
2. What is over-fishing?
Simply put, over-fishing is taking too many fish or other
animals from the sea than nature can reproduce. When adult
populations of fish or other marine animal species become
too low, they can no longer breed in effective numbers and
these animals may be at risk of local extinction. Fishing in
spawning aggregation sites is particularly hazardous to fish
populations because breeding adults are eliminated over a
very short period of time. Over-fishing not only makes it
more difficult for people to continue to find food
and earn an income, but the elimination
of even one species of fish or marine
animal from a marine
ecosystem can have a
negative chain-effect on
the rest of the sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment