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25 April 2022
Catch Recording and Biological Aspects of Sharks and Rays of CITES Appendix II in Tanjung Luar, Lombok
Project leader: Mr Wanwan Kurniawan
Level of education and university: Master, The Australian National University
Collaborating Organisations: REKAM Nusantara Foundation
Project Location: Nusa Tenggara Barat, DKI Jakarta
Activity Type: Academic research
Sector: -
Project Rationale:
Indonesia is known to be the top elasmobranch (sharks and rays) exporter in the world. On the other hand, more and more elasmobranch species have been listed in CITES Appendices. Therefore, global attention on Indonesia is growing.
There are 31 elasmobranch species commonly caught in Indonesian waters which have been listed in CITES Appendices, consisting of 4 species in Appendix I and 27 species in Appendix II. Among the species in CITES Appendix II, around 15 species are usually landed at Tanjung Luar Fish Landing Port, Lombok.
It is one of CITES mandates that an exporting country monitors the harvest and the populations of Appendix II biota. Monitoring fish populations requires stock assessment which can be done only where long and continuous time-series data of catches and efforts is available. Unfortunately, both catches and efforts of sharks and rays in Indonesia have not been properly recorded particularly on species level. The Directorate General of Capture Fisheries, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (DGCF-MMAF) reports rough annual estimate of elasmobranch catches per province, which are aggregated into big categories - “sharks” and “rays” only. There is no report of species-specific catch. The currently limited number of personnel in the field, as well as too many landing sites existing across Indonesia, make it challenging for DGCF-MMAF to implement a better recording system. In addition, sharks and rays are still considered less valuable economically, so the data recording for these fish is not a priority. As the national scientific authority, our institution LIPI (now BRIN) took the initiative to do catch and fishery recording at a few landing sites in Indonesia, which started in 2018 and continued until 2021.
Furthermore, as the national scientific authority, BRIN (via researchers working on sharks and rays) is required to write the NDF document for each species in CITES Appendix II if we wish the species to continue to be allowed to fish. During the period 2018-2021, LIPI (now BRIN) has produced three NDF documents for seven elasmobranch species. Unfortunately, the data needed to write the NDF is not always available. For example, at this very time we (BRIN) have not been able to write the NDF for oceanic whitetip sharks due to the lack of data on its fisheries. As a consequence, the recommendation of a zero export quota was given for 2022, which is definitely a disadvantage for fishermen and traders in Indonesia. On the other hand, considering its biological traits, there is a high chance this species is still viable to utilise. So, the recommendation of a zero quota may be amended once the relevant data is available and the NDF document is written. This research project can help by supplying some of the data required for the NDF document of whitetip shark which we will work on in 2022.
Besides the need for fishery data, we currently still lack information on the biology (basic life-history) for many shark and ray species. This information is vital to be able to do further research. To do stock assessment for example, one combines time-series data of catches and efforts as well as basic life-history information. Some life-history, such as length at first maturity and fecundity are directly useful for management. Wedgefish and mako sharks are among the fish we are still lacking basic life-history data for. Age and growth for wedgefish, including white-spotted wedgefish is absent. White et al. (2014) once studied age and growth of wedgefish. Unfortunately, due to confusion of species identity and the small sample, they combined multiple species of Rhynchobatus into one single analysis, hence it is not very useful. Additionally, their sample lacked large individuals which likely biased the parameter estimates.
Project Beneficiaries:
Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), fishermen and other fishery community as well as researchers.
Priority Development Area:
Economic Recovery
Link with Australian organisation: -
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