SEEKING BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF INDONESIAN SEAS THROUGH OCEANOGRAPHY EXPEDITION by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 8, 2016 (Antara) - Indonesian waters occupy at least 70 percent of its national territory, and in most parts of the country, there are numerous aspects of livelihoods that are related to and dependent on oceans.  
    Being one of the world's largest maritime countries, with about 5.8 million square kilometers (km) of marine territory, Indonesia has around 92,000 km-long beaches and coastal areas, the second longest after Canada.  
    Indonesia is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, with around 70 percent of its territory made up of waters and it has around 17,480 islands.

         So it is normal that the country's economy traditionally depends on the oceans and its natural resources. The country's future basically lies in oceans that are expected to help sustain food security.

         A lot of researches and several expeditions have been carried out in the nation's seas, yet the ocean is mostly unexplored and hides mysteries waiting to be revealed.

         Recently, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, in cooperation with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), launched an oceanography expedition to record information and data on maritime conditions in eastern Indonesian.  
    The expedition team had set sail from the Benoa seaport in Bali on August 27 and will take a route divided into three cruises: the Banda Sea Cruise, from August 27 to September 5; the Maluku Sea Cruise, from September 6 to 15; and the Makasar Strait and Lombok Strait, from September 20 to October 1.

         The expedition involves over 25 researchers and is using the Baruna Jaya research boat owned by LIPI, according to Zulficar Mochtar, head of the ministry's Research and Development Department.

          During the expedition, the researchers will observe the maritime environmental conditions, and the activities will include taking measurements of the physical, chemical, and biological parameters; studying the impacts of La Nina on capture fishery activities; analyzing the maritime phenomena; and forecasting maritime conditions.

           The team also hopes to gain a better understanding of the monsoon phenomenon, which is an extreme climatic change occurring in the southeastern region from July to September.

           The researchers will also validate fishing boats and ships operating in eastern Indonesian waters in connection with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities there.

           With regard to IUU fishing activities, the team will validate the types and presence of boats by using radar data and field validation, he remarked.

          The researchers will also record the distribution or spread of rumpon (fads) for fishing in eastern Indonesian waters. 
     The ministry had earlier identified areas, such as the Banda Sea in Maluku that has faced overfishing and ecosystem as well as environmental degradation problems, as its coral reefs were damaged.

          The team joining the expedition also includes researchers from the Bandung Institute of Technology and the University of Deponegoro.

          After sailing for 10 days, the Oceanography Expedition for Eastern Indonesia¿s team arrived in Ambon at a warm welcome as it is expected to  provide data to support Maluku as a national fish barn.

         "This expedition is being organized to observe and study maritime resources, and the results are very useful to support the idea of designating Maluku as a national fish barn," Dr Bambang Sukresno, one of the researchers joining the expedition team, stated in Ambon, on Sept. 6
     A mini workshop was organized aboard the Baruna Jaya VIII research ship that docked at the LIPI Ambon harbor, Teluk Dalam area, Ambon. 
      The expedition is divided into three sailing trips. The first trip themed "Maritime Dynamism" covered the Bali-Banda-Ambon route from August 27 to September 5, 2016.

           In the first trip, researchers took measurements of the sea depth.

           "The team especially focused on the Banda Sea, which has a unique character, as its depth is four to six thousand meters," Sukresno remarked.

           The second trip themed "Indeso Joint Expedition Program" will cover the Ambon-Bitung (North Sulawesi) route. Indeso is a joint maritime and fishery project between Indonesia and France.

          The third trip will cover the Makassar-Lombok Strait-Jakarta route.

          Chief Scientist Dr Agung Yunanto of the expedition said the three-month expedition involves the Research and Development Department of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the University of Diponegoro, and the Bandung Institute of Technology.

         The expedition is expected to provide answers on various important issues concerning seas and fishery, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; climate change; marine dynamic model concerning fish stock; and the distribution of fish aggregating devices in the waters of eastern Indonesia. ***1***

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(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 08-09-2016 18:36:54