(With permission, from "The Borneo Post", Front Page, Thursday,
June 18, 1998)
KUCHING, WED. Special 'mines' will be strewn at random on the sea floor around
Talang-Talang and Satang Islands to deter fishing trawlers from practising
illegal trawling activity there.
These environmental-friendly and non-toxic "Reef Balls" are part of the measures
adopted by the State government to give some protection to the turtles around
the Islands, said Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk Amar James
Wong Kim Min.
The Minister (L) being shown how the Reef Balls are moulded by Harry Rolfe
(C) and Larry Beggs (R) of the Reef Ball Development Group of the United
States
Speaking when officially launching the "Sarawak Reef Ball Working Group"
Project I (Talang-Talang Region) this morning, he said Sarawak is the first
Asian country to use the reef balls and it could be a model for the rest
of Asia in planned and responsible marine conservation.
The Reef Balls are invented and manufactured by the Reef Ball Development
Group Limited of the United States, a non-profit organisation helping to
restore the world's ocean ecosystem. Wong said the sea turtle population
has declined at an alarming rate of 95 percent over the last 35 years.
The species of marine turtles found in Sarawak are the Green Turtle, the
Hawksbill and the Olive-Ridley and their populations have stabilized recently
showing that past conservation efforts are beginning to bear fruit.
"Illegal fishing trawling activity is the largest culprit responsible for
killing so many turtles and patrols against such activities are not effective
at all. The truly effective way to deter these illegal trawlers is to seed
the sea bed around the Islands with some artificial barriers that will act
as "mines" to rip their nets apart. This is a more effective as a deterrent
measure of enforcement rather than "band aid' tactic of trying to catch them
after they have entered the protected areas and may have already killed one
or more turtles."
In the past, old car bodies and cement structures were used but such artificial
barriers contain heavy metal toxins and chemicals that can kill marine life.
They are also not stable on the sea bed, being tossed around like pebbles
clue to the strong wave action and the currents.
The Reef Balls, on the other hand, are constructed from Fiberglass molds
using cement with the same pH as salt water and containing admixtures and
micro silica.
They remain stable on the sea bottom even in hurricanes as the materials
used are dense, of moderate to low profile and designed in such as way that
more than half of its weight is in its bottom on the sea floor.
The Finished Reef Balls
They have a variety of rough surface textures and they will effectively cut
any trawler's nets when they are caught up by the trawler.
They also have holes in them to create vortexes, and the large space in the
centre provides shelter for the fish while the surfaces enhances the settlement
of marine life.
The reef balls are expected to last at least 500 years and will hopefully
help put the population of marine turtles to full recovery by the year 2010.
Manufacturing of the Reef Balls have started, with each reef ball requiring
28 days for the cement to cure fully and 300 balls will be ready for laying
within the next two months. This will be followed a month later by another
200 balls.
The Group will then conduct a scientific survey to study the effectiveness
of the first project before embarking on a follow-up project a year later.
The ministry will fund the initial project costs of RM300,000, Wong disclosed.
He however appealed to companies and corporate bodies to sponsor the materials
for subsequent reef ball projects, so that the areas of coverage can be extended
to other marine parks.
Meanwhile, Wong said it was not the intention of the State government or
the Forestry and Wild Life Department to make life difficult for the trawlers
as the reef balls are only meant for areas like Talang-Talang and Satang
Islands, or other areas which needed protection in order to conserve marine
wildlife, particularly the turtles.
"The trawlers still have a big area of the open sea where they can trawl,
so we are not endangering their livelihood." he said. -BP
With permission, from "Sarawak Tribune", Front Page, Thursday,
June 18, 1998
Drastic drop in turtle landings
By Roger J Duyong
KUCHING - Sarawak turtle islands have witnessed a drastic drop in turtle
landings over the last 35 years. "Last year, there were 280,000 turtle landings
with about one million eggs collected. Thirty-five years ago, three million
landings during a season would be common," local expert Dr Charles Leh revealed
yesterday. This year, the population. of turtles, which include the hawkbill
and olive ridley species, are ex pected to range between 600 to 1,000, depending
on the weather, according to Dr Leh. The number of turtles began to decline
during the war when hundreds of bombs were dropped in many of the landing
areas, killing numerous turtles. After the war, the population did not increase
and it was until lately that the turtles were showing signs of a comeback.
Previously, the methods used to create reefs for marine life conservation
in volved structures like car bodies, lyres and barges which contained heavy
metal toxins and other chemicals, believed harmful to the turtles. Moreover,
siltation had caused the habitats of the turtles to become shallow. But the
chief threats are still heavy fishing and hunting, particularly by illegal
trawlers. Dr Leh said to prevent the turtles from extinction, the government
had enacted a law to make them an endangered species Measures had also been
taken to deter trawlers from catching the turtles. However, some of the anti-
poaching methods used were not satisfactory, prompting the authorities to
try a new technology from the US called "Reef Ball." Dr Leh hoped it would
help to solve the problem. The "Reef Ball" technology is now being applied
around the turtle islands of Talang-Talang in the South China Sea.
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