Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) SCIENCE
Cycle 1 (2011 Deadline)

Building Indonesian research capacity through genetic assessment of commercial fish species 

Project Overview 

Andrianus, the course instructor, helped participants in reading outputs from software calculations.

The Coral Triangle is a region of Southeast Asia defined by the presence of 500 or more coral species. This region is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity, and its importance as an economic and natural resource for the six Coral Triangle countries resulted in the 2009 Coral Triangle Initiative, which is aimed at responding to the increasing natural stresses and overexploitation of marine environments in the region. Of particular concern is the intensifying pressure on two key Indonesian fisheries, namely tuna and shark.

 

Realizing the importance of subsistence tuna fishing in Indonesia and the high value of tuna exports, the Indonesian government initiated conservation efforts in 2000 in cooperation with various worldwide tuna commissions, which presently regulate tuna as single fishery stock. However, recent genetic data suggests that there are multiple tuna stocks within the Indian Ocean alone. Managing tuna as a single stock fishery when there are multiple distinct subpopulations could result in inappropriate conservation planning, resulting in ineffective management actions that could result in depleted tuna stocks in the future. In addition to tuna, Indonesia has also been an area of intense shark fishing, which is driven by high demand for shark fins in markets of Hong Kong and China. As of the project start date in 2012, there were no Indonesia-wide management policies to promote shark conservation. One major obstacle was the lack of reliable data on the current status of Indonesian shark fisheries. Obtaining these data is especially challenging because most body parts by which species identification can be made have been removed at the time of landing. However, DNA barcoding can identify samples to species based only on a tissue sample, offering an alternative way to identify sharks. 

 

 

The publication of the research’s team investigation into shark genetics has brought insight into what species are still targeted by fishermen and what provinces are the major areas for shark fisheries, as well as their conservation status. The team built a long-lasting collaboration with major institutions working in tuna conservation, including LOKA TUNA Indonesia (LTI) and Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan Tuna Indonesia (YMDPI). LTI has agreed to extend an existing memorandum of understanding with the PI’s Mahardika’s center for another two years to focus more on studying population genetics of Southern Pacific Bluefin Tuna.

The PEER grantee team successfully organized summer courses at Karimunjawa National Park, Jepara, Central Java. focused on studying marine decapod biodiversity. Students were exposed to dead coral head methods, a rapid and reliable means of sample collection, participated in fieldwork, and took part in an intensive one-week molecular ecology class complete with lab work experience.

Seven workshops led by the researchers included research methods that could provide quick estimates of unseen biodiversity in a coral reef ecosystem and were successful in promoting phylogenetic science to wider research networks in Indonesia. The IBRC has also successfully assisted more than a dozen undergraduate students to complete internships in various research projects and provided advanced training opportunities (including in the United States) for three Master’s students.

IBRC interns and staff identifying tuna for DNA sampling (Photo courtesy I Gusti Mahardika)	UNSYIAH students learning how to load gel into electrophoresis chamber for DNA visualization (Photo courtesy I Gusti Mahardika)	Local school visit: students mimicking shark fins (Photo courtesy I Gusti Mahardika)

Through its Ministry of Marine and Fisheries (MMF), the Indonesian Government has also devoted a significant amount of effort to protecting sharks from unsustainable fisheries and over exploitation. Dr. Mahardika and his colleagues have developed initial communications with the ministry to use their results as policy input.

Team members presented the result of the research at the Third Asia Pacific Coral Reef Symposium, the International Conference on Science and Technology Application on Climate Change, Enhancing Marine Biodiversity Research in Indonesia, and the National Symposium on Sustainable Tuna Fisheries in December 2014.

During its final months with PEER support, the center successfully secured a $250,000 grant from the Alice Tyler Perpetual Trust, which will be used to build a marine research station in Pemuteran, Western Bali, to develop and facilitate interest in marine science research and education.

Publications

Andrianus Sembiring, Ni Putu Dian Pertiwi, Angka Mahardini, Rizki Wulandari, Eka Maya Kurniasih, Andri Wahyu Kuncoro, N.K. Dita Cahyani, Aji Wahyu Anggoro, Maria Ulfa, Hawis Madduppa, Kent E. Carpenter, Paul H. Barber, Gusti Ngurah Mahardika. 2015. DNA barcoding reveals targeted fisheries for endangered sharks in Indonesia. Fisheries Research 164: 130-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2014.11.003

Prehadi, Andrianus Sembiring, Eka Maya Kurniasih, Rahmad, Dondy Arafat, Beginer Subhan, and Hawis H. Madduppa. 2015. DNA barcoding and phylogenetic reconstruction of shark species landed in Muncar fisheries landing site in comparison with Southern Java fishing port. Biodiversitas 16(1): 55-61. http://biodiversitas.mipa.uns.ac.id/D/D1601/D160107.pdf

Nebuchadnezzar Akbar, Neviaty P. Zamani, and Hawis H. Madduppa. 2014. Genetic diversity of Yellow Fin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from two populations in the Moluccas Sea, Indonesia. Depik 3(1): 65-73; April 2014.


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