Professor of IPB: Cantrang Problem, Needed the Mapping of Indonesian Marine Territory

Government per 1 January 2107 officially imposed a ban on 17 fishing gears, and cantrang was one of the tools contained in the list. Banning the use of cantrang was related to preserve the nature, especially the coral reefs which were home to some marine animals and also as one of the spawning places of fish. Other than that, the cantrang could not sort out the type and age of the fish captured. As a result, the small fish that should be the next generation of descendants were also carried. 

From the social side, many small fishermen did not hesitate to rebuke other fishermen which used the large-scale fishing gear. Moreover, they knew that small fishermen were more likely to get fewer fish catches. This led to increased conflicts among the fishermen.

With the prohibition of the use of the fishing equipment in the form of the cantrang, many large-scale fishermen were losers. Because they had issued a large capital by buying the cantrang, the price of the fishing gear was about Rp. 800 million. The government also asserted would not provide the replacement fund related to the ban of the fishing gear.

Professor of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Bogor Agricultural University (FPIK-IPB), Prof.Dr.Ir Ari Purbayanto, explained, the banning of the cantrang fishing equipment was not a solution in optimizing the utilization of the marine resources, because it eliminated the economic function of the source. With this fish production in Indonesia decreased sharply.

“May be the government can determine any region which can be used as one of the sea area that can use the cantrang tool, because not all marine areas in Indonesia become damaged when using the tool. It is necessary to do the mapping of the marine areas of which are more detail,” he added.

The government took six months for all the fishermen to change the fishing gear banned from being a more environmentally friendly fishing gear, but until now the replacement of the tool had not been implemented properly and seemed to incriminate other fishermen. (GG/ris)