Fishers in West Sumatra Suffer US$2.5M Loss Due to Mass Fish Deaths

TheIndonesia.co - West Sumatra local government reported that local fishermen in Agam subdistrict suffered more than US2.5 million loss after tons of fishes died between January and December 2021.

Head of fisheries and food security office in the province, Rosva Deswira, said 1,764 tons of fishes died and impacted fishers who use floating net cage to catch fish in Lake Maninjau. The estimated total loss was based on selling price at US$1.4/kilogram.

“The fishes belonged to hundreds of floating net cage fishers in Lake Maninjau,” Deswira said, as reported by Antara on Sunday, January 2.

The mass deaths happened in three periods. In January 2021, 15 tons of fishes died, and in May the same year another 44 tons died.

The largest loss occurred in December 2021 when 1,705 tons if fishes died. Deswira said fishes died all across the village during the last period.

As for the main cause, heavy rainfall and strong winds were cited as the main driving factors because the two phenomena resulted in upwelling, or a process in which water at the bottom rises to the surface. This subsequently made the level of oxygen dropped in the lake and caused fishes to get sick and eventually die.

Minutes after, dead fishes started to float in the lake’s surface which also polluted the water.

Aside from that, the mass deaths also created air pollution that affected locals and tourists within the area.

Also reported by Antara, visiting tourist Rizki said on his way to Lake Maninjau, he kept smelling unpleasant scent which started when he entered nearby village Nagari Bayua.

“Along the way, the air wasn’t very good, and it made me feel nauseous,” Rizki said in Lubukbasung.

Furthermore, the floating dead fishes also made an impact on the number of incoming tourists to the famous lake.

“From what I’ve seen, there weren’t staying visitors in Maninjau and Bayua,” another tourist, Desrona, said.