Upon arrival in Jakarta, consultations were made with the key personnel of the Directorate General of Fisheries (DGF), Marine Fisheries Research Institute (MFRI) of the Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (AARD), National Institute of Oceanology (NIO), and FAO and UNDP Offices. Contact was also made with the Unesco Regional Office and the USAID. People met at Jakarta and in the provinces visited are listed in Annex A.
The plan and itinerary (Annex A) for actual field surveys were prepared and discussed with Messrs. Hassan Mubarak of the MFRI, Bambang Wahjudi and Ichsan Santika of the DGF Office. Selection of potential areas to be surveyed was discussed with these key personnel using the oceanographic maps of the areas.
Interviews and consultations with the key fishery officials were made prior to actual field work in the three provinces listed. Information, such as the commercial species of seaweed available in the area and the sites where these are found and the present status of production, derived from these consultations were very useful in the final selection of specific sites for surveys. Cooperation from the local fishery officials was very laudable.
A total of nine sites were surveyed in three provinces (Figure 1). Four of these are located in the province of Bali, namely, the reefs of Terura Genoa, Serengan Island, the channel between Lembangan and Ceningan Islands, and Pegametan Baai. Three sites were surveyed in the Province of West Nusa Tenggara. Two of these sites are located in Lombok Island, namely, Labuan Hadji and the reefs in the general vicinity of Maringi, Pulau Kambing and Pulo Dera. The third site is the Pulau Dapi Island in Santong Bay in Sumbawa Island.
The last two sites are located in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (West Timor), namely, Oetefu Kecil in Pulau Semau and Tablolong Reef southeast of Kupang.
The lack of appropriate and fast means of water transport was the major constraint which limited the actual extent that was covered in these survey activities.
Ecological characteristics of sites surveyed follows.
This is the present site of small-scale Eucheuma spinosum farm being developed by Copenhagen Pectin Ltd. Several families in the area have started farming although the size of individual farms is not known. The total production in the site was recorded at 18 tons (dry) at the time of the visit.
The reef is approximately 500 m wide and 2 km long. It is exposed to the NW winds and waves but protected from the S to SE. The reef is shallow and a large part is exposed during low tides. Water motion is generally due to wind-driven waves which spill over the reef edge.
The area presently planted is an eel grass community located towards the landward half of the reef where patches of live and dead corals are also found.
Although both the floating and monoline bottom methods were used at the initial stage, the local farmers at the time of visit were using the latter method.
Examination of E. spinosum plots shows that the branches of algal thalli are thin and stiff. These appear to be generally pale (light flesh colour) with the growing tips of the branches darker brown in colour. Interview with Mr. Hadriadi of Copenhagen Pectin Ltd., in Indonesia, revealed that the stocks introduced in the site have changed from their original greenish-purplish colour. A 2 to 3 percent rate per day have been recorded in the area although seasonality in growth rates had also been observed.
Aside from E. spinosum, Gracilaria coronopifolia and Gelidiella acerosa are also being gathered in the area. The produce, however, are of low quality due to the presence of many extraneous materials (other seaweeds and dirt).
Serengan Island is flanked by two channels. The southern channel which is bigger and deeper is the passage to Denpasar harbour. Almost the entire reef fronting this island (approximately 1.5 to 2.0 km wide) is exposed during low tides except for depressions and shallow channels between the island and the outer reef, as well as those portions along or near the channel. The northern channel was surveyed. Turbid water flowing seawards through the channel was observed to be deflected towards the reef north of the channel.
The predominat wind system comes from the east-southeast driving the waves to spill over the reef even during low tides. This produces water current with moderate speed to flow towards the channel. The reef area subjected to thorough survey is the portion of the reef adjacent to and at the south side of the channel. Approximately, 4 to 6 hectares are covered with approximately one meter deep water at low tide. Based on the tide table, the predicted depth at the lowest tide is approximately 0.6 m.
The site is characterized by a rich marine community with the eel grasses being the dominant components. The bottom becomes more coarse sandy and solid towards the channel. The corals are in very poor state. The bottom is quite irregular. Portions with eel grass are generally more elevated than the bare areas which are eroded. These depressions have firm corally substrate consisting of broken coral pieces and coarse sand. The site is characterized by clean and clear water.
The seaweed species associated with the eel grasses consisted mainly of articulated corallines and Gracilaria sp. Many other species such as Mastophora rosea, Halymenia durvillaei, Laurencia spp, Amansia glomerata and many other less dominant species were observed in the current washed areas.
The site is approximately 14 to 16 nautical miles east of Denpasar. The channel lies in a NE to SW direction separating the two islands. Due to rough waters outside the reef at the SW end of the channel, the site was reached through a 30-minute hike from the village of Djungut Batu.
The site is quite large and is protected from strong waves by the fringing reef. The current is moderate. Interview with local people, however, revealed that except for limited portions such as depressions and shallow canals, the most part of the site is exposed during low tide. A “swim check” of the area seemed to corroborate this information. The bottom is sandy with bits of coral fragments with thin cover of sea grasses. In slightly deeper areas, patches or colonies of coelenterates were observed with associated species of seaweeds such as Padina, Halimeda, Acanthophora and Laurencia. Tufts of blue-green algae, probably of the genus Lyngbya were also recorded.
The water temperature was significantly lower (24°C) than in the Denpasar sites (28°C).
Local inhabitants are harvesting Gelidiella acerosa and Hypnea sp for agar. The materials are dried in the form of sheets, 0.3 to 0.5 m in size and are sold at Rp 300 per kg1. The NE end of the channel was not surveyed due to time constraint but local information revealed that this portion is deeper than the SW end. A follow-up survey may be advisable to verify the ecological conditions as the site appears to be potentially good.
This site is approximately 3.5 hours drive from Denpasar and is located towards the NW portion of the island of Bali.
The reef is very large and protected from the N and NE by islands. Only the easily accessible areas from the bay were surveyed due to local water transport constraint (sailboat). These areas are predominantly eel grass communities with the common algal components such as Padina, Acanthophora, Sargassum, Gracilaria coronopifolia and Halimeda. The water is turbid with high silt load. Water movement is negligible. The eel grasses are highly epiphytized and coated with silt.
A follow-up survey is recommended especially the outer reef portions between Kisik Pegametan and the two smaller islands west of it as well as the extended tip of the reef W-SW of these two small islands. The wave/wind-driven currents may be better in these areas and since its size is large, its potential may be good. This can be verified in a followup survey.
The shoreline is exposed from the east. Except for rocky/corally bottom a hundred or so meters away, no reef exist in the area. Evidence, however, of a narrow fringing reef is still discernible. This could have been destroyed by the people in the area. Coral gathering for construction and lime production is one of the main activities observed in the area. The destruction of the fringing reef has already caused the erosion of the shoreline. A kilometer or so south of our point of embarkation is a highly eroded shoreline. The cemented side of the runway of an old Dutch airfield had already been exposed due to beach erosion.
The bottom of the shore several meters from the beach is coarse sandy to rocky where seaweeds are found. Gathering from drift materials was observed in the area consisting mainly of Gracilaria sp. Dried produce is of poor quality.
1 Indonesian rupiah or Rp 620 = US$1
The site is approximately 10 to 12 nautical miles south of Labuan Hadji. The reef is quite large and fairly uniform in depth with portions exposed during low tide especially towards the Pulau Kambing (Bembe). A large portion of the reef of Kera Island especially towards the leeward side is shallow and exposed during low tide.
Except for the coral communities towards the reef edges, the site is typically an eel grass community. The windward half of the reef between Maringi and Kambing (Bembe) Islands is fairly uniform with sandy bottom. The reef is characterized by clear water where water movement is slight. A sizeable portion of the reef north of Kambing (Bembe) Island fronting the intended reef margin is exposed directly to wind-driven waves from the NE. This portion of the reef is rocky to coarse sandy with firm bottom where wind-driven waves cause slight current movement.
The reef community is not diverse. Commonly encountered seaweed species were Padina, Sargassum and Turbinaria in rocky portions. Sea urchins and starfishes were quite common in the area.
The area may be recommended for test planting using E. striatum.
The site is approximately 4 nautical miles east of the village of Santong. The island is about half a kilometer from the main land and separated from it by a shallow reef. The entire reef NW to NE of the island is characterized by turbid waters. It is large, may be more than 50 hectares in size. The portion of the reef NW of the island is characterized by abundant beds of Laurencia sp mixed with Gracilaria salicornia. Patches of the edible variety of Caulerpa racemosa were also abundant together with well-developed colonies of Halimeda opuntia. Other species recorded were Padina sp, Hypnea sp, Gracilaria sp and Chrysymenia sp.
The N-NE portion of the reef is characterized by abundant beds of Gracilaria coronopifolia. Other species mentioned above were also found in this area. Local information revealed that the site was formerly one of the commercial sources of Gracilaria. However, due to the low demand, commercial gathering had completely stopped.
The reef between the island and the mainland is exposed to the NW wind-driven waves and is generally characterized by sandy-rocky substrate although water clarity is significantly better due to the water coming directly from the open sea.
This site is a small bay at the southeastern portion of Semau island. Two small slightly elongated coral islets located at the mouth of the bay protects the area from the direct impact of waves coming from the E/SE direction. The edge of the reef fronting the bay is characterized by coral heads and becoming more sandy corally, approximately 100 m inwards. The landwardmost and SW portions are generally sandy. These are generally well-protected from the prevailing wind-driven waves and currents.
The prevailing waves/current is from the SE passing through a break between the Bonhala Point and the coral islets. This break acts as a channel through which the wind-driven waves/currents pass through slightly to moderately washing irregular strip of sandy corally portion in the middle of the bay. The other “break” between the islets and the promontory north of the islets also exposes the N/NW portion of the bay to the washing effects of slow to moderate wind-driven waves/currents.
The natural bed of Eucheuma spinosum is located in coarse sandy corally portions. The bed may be partly exposed during very low tides as can be judged by the growth form of the seaweed. These are observed to form generally low encrusting growth among the dead broken coral fragments and coral rocks. The Eucheuma thalli show evident signs of grazing, perhaps by grazing aquatic vertebrates (finfish, turtles, etc.) as shown by the almost uniformly cut parts of the top branches. Associated with Eucheuma are the common species such as Sargasum, Padina, Dictyota, Acanthophora spicifera, Halimeda opuntia, H. cylindracea, Gracilaria coronopifolia and eel grass, as well as many fine turf-forming species.
The water is slightly turbid. The deeper portion beyond the reef edge is sandy with some coral boulders. The breaking of the waves cause turbulence which disturbs the sandy bottom bringing with it fine sand particles making the water slightly turbid.
The farmable portion of the bay is approximately 3 hectares, may be more.
This site is located at the SW side of the tip of the mainland SW of Kupang, also fronting Oetefu Kecil on the other side of the channel.
The reef is about 400 to 450 m wide and 1.0 to 1.5 km long. The edge of the reef is characterized by large coral boulders where the waves break beyond which (landwards) the bottom is slightly raised consisting mostly of dead corals and coral rubbles. This raised portion is present almost the whole length of the reef with some breaks at certain points. The substrate is sandy/corally (coral rubbles) with patches of live corals beyond this raised portion becoming coarse sandy with coral fragment to firm coarse sandy toward the shore. The bottom slightly dips and becomes uniformly flat towards the shore forming a wide shallow channel. This uniform flat portion is approximately 150 to 200 meters broad running along the length of the reef and approximately 200 to 300 meters from the breakers. It is characterized by a uniform bottom carpet of short cropped eel grass community consisting of Thalassia and Halodule. The algal components are mostly concentrated towards the outer half of the reef consisting of the same dominant species recorded in Oetefu Kecil. Aside from the eel grasses, the bottom is characterized by the abundance of benthic animals mostly coelenterates, their colonies becoming more dense and patchy landwards of the raised edge of the reef where the substrate is more solid. These are, however, uniformly interspersed with eel grasses landwards within the 150 to 200 meter strip where the substrate is firm sandy/corally.
The reef is at the time of survey protected by the island from the steady and uniform moderate wind from the E/NE direction. The predominant waves, however, come from the W-SW direction. As the waves break at the reef edge, these spill beyond the slightly raised reef edge and flow toward the shallow channel. The spilled-over water then flows northwards in the shallow channel at the moderate speed.
The Eucheuma stocks are located beyond the raised barrier, but generally outside the uniformly eel-grass-carpeted area, where the substrate is mostly corally (solid) although clumps may be found landwards. The thick patches of E. spinosum show very healthy and robust growth, dark brown to dark purple (basal-portions) in colour. Signs of heavy grazing pressure is, however, very evident. The erect branches are uniformly cropped or cut, the bases thus forming thick clumps. This site is the best among those which have been surveyed during the trip. The oceanographic and biological conditions are apparently favourable to E. spinosum. It is accessible from Kupang but generally far from population centres, thus, human interference is minimal. The stock available is more than enough to start an experimental and demonstration farms.
Two major points, however, should be taken into consideration namely, the influence of waves from the southeast monsoon and the grazing pressure. Interviews with the local fishery personnel and the crew of the boat (fisheries) are contradictory with regards the sea conditions during the SE monsoon. According to the crew, the site is exposed to waves during the months of October to December. If this is true, then it may significantly affect the operation in the area and farming may be seasonal. Oetefu Kecil site may be the alternative site during this period.
Farmable portions of the reef is approximately 15 to 20 hectares, more or less.
