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Komodo Island in Indonesia.
Illegal fishermen have been utilizing homemade bombs to kill fish off the coast of Komodo Island, Indonesia, reports the Associated Press (AP); the bombs have not only injured fish populations in the protected area, but has also blasted biodiverse coral reefs popular with tourists. A scuba teacher told the AP that a section of Tatawa Besar coral reef, a popular diving spot, had been “blasted, ripped off, turned upside down.”
According to the article, bomb fishing has become more common along the island ever since conservation NGOs, the Nature Conservancy and Putri Naga Komodo, were forced out of managing the park due to a dispute with the government over how money from fees should be applied. The NGOs wanted park fees (which they raised for foreigners) to go back into the protected area, while the government fought for the funds being moved into a general fund. The NGOs were exited in 2010, leaving the government to manage the over 200,000 hectare park.
However, the head of the park says they are successfully enforcing the law, noting rangers have arrested 60 illegal fishermen in the last two years. One fisherman was killed recently by rangers after a group of fishermen threw their homemade bombs at rangers.
Illegal fishing, which is a widespread problem in Indonesia, is believed to cost the country $4 billion annually and undercut local peoples’ access to protein.
Komodo Island is most-famous for sporting the world’s biggest lizard, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis).
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