Restocking in Sukabumi

Freshwater eel (Anguila bicolor) is one of the main inland water commodities from Sukabumi which has been exploited in large scale. Local fishers usually catch them during their glass-eel stadia and sell it to the fish collector. Local collector will send it to industries which will grow them into consumable size and then export them to other countries. This exploitation, however, has not well managed yet. Limited attempts have been conducted to balance the rate of eel exploitation in Sukabumi, where most of them were less carefully implemented and monitored.
To address this specific issue, IFish plans to conduct freshwater eel stocking program in Sukabumi District. Stocking is considered to be an effective fisheries management approach to balance high intake rate in eel fisheries. It is also more feasible to be implemented compared to other more complicated approaches (e.g. land-use or policy-based approach).
As a preparation process for the stoking program, IFish, together with Balai Riset Pemulihan Sumber Daya Ikan (BRPSDI) and Fisheries Riset Center (PUSRISKAN) conducted field assessments to some river segments which were proposed by Local Fisheries Office as potential sites for eel stocking.
The assessment focused on water quality measurement and social-economy aspect of the fishers and the related institutional. The result of this assessment will be used by IFish as a reference to determine the most suitable location for eel stocking.