Good Indonesia news

[Doug Fenner]

In spite of these horror stories from other areas in Indonesia, I have a
bit of good news (relative).  We are working in several communities in
North Sulawesi and there has been no noticible increase in bomb fishing in
this area.  Bomb fishing is occuring here (and we have educational
campaigns underway to help reduce and hopefully/ultimately to stop it), but
it is occuring at about the same rate as a year ago.  North Sulawesi ,
economically, is doing quite well as the rupiah devaluation has meant that
exports here of copra, cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, seawed make farming
attractive and may actually be reducing fishing pressure a bit as people
move to farming export crops rather than fishing.  However, we have not yet
noticed changes in fishing effort yet either as fish prices have also
increased (the increase in prices of farm versus fish produce is kind of a
wash with each other).  In fact, in a recent survey we conducted in June
1998, more than half the respondents in 4 villages surveyed on the Maluku
sea coast said they were better off or the same compared to a year ago!!!!
The local joke going around here is that there is no resesi (recesion) only
resepsi (receptions).  People in Manado are starting to have trouble
finding maids as farming has become more lucrative recently.

Brian Crawford
Technical Advisor
Proyek Pesisir (Coastal Resources Management Project - Indonesia)
URI Coastal Resources Center
Manado Field Office
Jalan Wolter Mongisidi No. 5
Kleak, Ling.  I Rt. 01/19
Manado, Sulawesi Utara  95115
Indonesia
Tel: (62-431) 841-671 or 841-672
Fax: (62-431) 841-673
email: crawford at manado.wasantara.net.id 
CRC WWW site:   http://crc.uri.edu

(forwarded by Doug Fenner)

Douglas Fenner, Ph.D.
Coral Taxonomist
Australian Institute of Marine Science
PMB No 3
Townsville MC
Queensland 4810
Australia
phone 07 4753 4241
e-mail: d.fenner at aims.gov.au
web: http://www.aims.gov.au