Jakarta, IO – The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is conducting research on fish migration routes (fishways) for sustainable management of river water resources in Indonesia.
BRIN Center for Conservation of Marine and Inland Water Resources head researcher Arif Wibowo said that the existence of a fishway is very important because dams can prevent freshwater fish from migrating, per Brin.go.id, Fri (8/12).
“This fishway project will run from 2020 to 2025. Previously, we initiated this project with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and CSU Australia. “However, after that, this research activity was integrated into BRIN,” explained Arif.
In this project, BRIN through its Research Center for Conservation of Marine and Inland Water Resources is collaborating with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Charles Sturt University (CSU).
Arif explained that fishway research had been carried out at several sites, including in the Cibareno and Ciwulan rivers in West Java. They have also studied the efficiency of fishways that have been built in Palembang, Batanghari and Poso.
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The construction of river infrastructure such as dams can become a barrier for freshwater fish in migrating to spawn, feed and shelter as well as avoid pollution or extreme environments. In fact, said Arif, there are more than 3,000 dams in Indonesia.
Therefore, fishways can help fish navigate through artificial barriers in rivers so that fish can migrate from upstream to downstream areas of the river or vice versa. (bp)