July 21, 2011
2011 Goldman Prize winner Prigi Arisandi and his team at ECOTON have been busily casting their nets in and out of the Surabaya River to take stock of the local fish habitat. They recently released findings from this population survey and are taking them to the government to develop sustainable river management policies.
The study found a significant decline in fish species (they only found 11 species compared to the 17 found in the 2009 survey) because of uncontrolled garbage that’s being dumped into the river. The study also reported that the fish habitat has been degraded, and the fish are less nutritious to eat.
ECOTON is using these findings to urge the Indonesian government to create official fish reserves, protect and restore fish habitats, and develop programs to clean up the river.
