Professor Chair Holder of IPB: Fish Stocks are Potentially Increasing but the Total Fish Catch is Still Low
Indonesia's fish catch is second only to the world after China. If look at the geographical data, China has vast tidal beach land and rich marine resources. Of its 280,000 sq. km of offcoast sea areas, 260,000 sq. km are fit for aquiculture. Its tidal beach land covers 20,800 sq. km. With the vast sea of China is only one third of the sea area of Indonesia, China catched nearly 14 million tons of fish in 2013-2014. Whereas in the same year, Indonesia was only able to catch 6 million tons of fish. By 2015, the total catch of Indonesia has reached 6.2 million tons, according to data the potential of fish catches in 2015 could catch up to 9.93 million tons.
"Changes in potential fish production show that fish stocks are increasing but the total fish catch is still low. The fish catch potential data tend to increase until 2015 along with the increase of fisherman catches. Then it is true that our fishermen always catch lower than the potential catch by the government, "said Professor Chair Holder of the Marine Resources Management Department (MSP) of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences of Bogor Agricultural University (FPIK IPB), Prof. Dr. Ir. Mennofatria Boer, DEA, in his press conference Pre Scientific Oration at IPB Campus, Baranangsiang, Bogor, on 24 August 2017.
He said the assessment of fish stocks covering the following steps, namely process of data collecting, analyzing and reporting data, and fishery information to determine the response of fish resources. This assessment requires quantitative data on the condition of fish stocks, the expected number of fish to be harvested, byproducts and mortality rate (due to fishing gear), origin study data including growth, age average or age group first matured gonads, maximum length and proportion every age group that dies every year.
Data and information on the potential of this fish catch is very important, as they are supportive for the consideration in fishery management, utilization and development in Indonesian waters.
"This data should be periodically updated so the effect of policy changes on fish stock can be quickly identified. The difficulty is that the current data is unreliable because rumour says not all fish catches are reported. In general, the world fishery statistics do not show real data, "he said.
Prof. Menno added that fisheries, especially marine fishery products are not visible, very complex, full of uncertainty and progressive. Even move up to thousands of kilometers or move to another country.
"It's a very complicated job. There is even a group study on tuna that has been working for 40 years but until now they still produce 100 percent inaccurate data. The alleged potential of fish catch data is not the only way to evaluate fish stock in a waters. Another way is to record at the fish landing site, making it more accurate and elegant, "he said.
Then is the catch of our fishermen low? Answer Prof. Menno replied that it is possible. Given the record hundreds of Fish Auction Places (TPI) throughout Indonesia are still minimal even smaller than that should be reported. The captured catch potential may also be too high, since the catch data and the potential for fish catches have never been verified.
"Unfortunately, length-frequency data are easily affected by biases caused by gear selectivity, migration and sampling errors, and this further complicates the assessment of tropical species. Essentially, fish stock assessments of exploited stocks can be made with data from the commercial fisheries only. In the case of unexploited resources, research vessel data are essential. However, the latter may also be very useful as a supplement to commercial fisheries data. They must be verified with the statistical report of fishery, the actual catch," he said. (Wied)
