Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Arief Yahya visited Asei village to stock Tilapia fish symbolically in Sentani Lake – Jubi
Sentani, Jubi – Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Arief Yahya visited Asei village to stock Tilapia fish symbolically in Sentani Lake after opening the Sentani Lake Festival on Saturday (20/06/15).
In his speech, he said tilapia could help grow the incomes of local communities and others in Jayapura.
This event was then recorded by the Indonesia World Record Museum (Muri).
Unfortunately, this is bad news for the people who live in Sentani lake because will destroy and eliminate the endemic fish in the largest lake in Papua.
“I am worried of the survival of native fish in Sentani lake. It is certainly going to be predators of endemic fishes including Sentani cork ( ikan gabus Sentani) and other fish. Imagine, how many tilapia would be when each tilapia lay ten eggs each day and then multiply it by a million fish, “a youth leader of Waibhu ditsrict, Yanpiet Tungkoye, stated on Saturday (20/06/2015).
In line with this, one of the residents on the shore of Sentani lake Daime Benyamin Ohee said that the stocking tilapia have been done a long time ago and this resulted in the disappearance of native fish in Sentani lake.
“Three years later it is hard to get a native fish due to the many predatory fishes in Sentani lake,” he said.
Previously, observers and researchers of native fish in Sentani lake Henderite Ohee protest against the deployment million tilapia. She said local government should breed native fish cork that is becoming very expensive.
“Obviously, this will give a negative impact on native fish populations, even more tragic native fish slowly will become extinct,” she said. (Engel Wally/ Tina).
