Komodo is indeed a special place. Despite not seeing any patrol boats or any sign of policing the place(this is a huge area to accomplish this), I hope that local authorities will step up with this practice and protect the park.

I want to give a positive plug to the Park management (before slamming them) because without them the situation would surely be far worse. Dynamite fishing mostly has been stopped, with only the occasional report of an incursion into the park. The situation in Komodo overall is quite good, there are not a lot of fishermen, and we do have good fish stocks on most of the dive sites. On the land things are quite good with improved facilities, good rangers, and overall a good experience for visitor. But it is a far cry from what it CAN BE!

In recent months we have had two serious incidence of destructive fishing. In November I was in south Komodo on a hard to find and dive pinnacle called TNC rock. I found Hundreds of large surgeon fish, and Trevally, dead, littering the bottom of the ocean.

Another operator reported exactly the same scene on a dive site in North Komodo in January.

He also reported having heard from locals that the fishermen are employing a new technique of potassium cyanide fishing, something along the lines of using baits to attract fish that are either releasing poison or bringing the fish into the range of someone to spray them with poison. Regardless of the technique the results have been the same…A disaster for the large fish populations.

AS for the Answer to Burt and Maurine’s question, where are the patrols?
well……..i am sorry to say THERE ARE NO PATROLS!
Well there are, but they are not running…!

Why they are not running needs the introduction of the two organisations that have responsibility for the parks management and protection. They are both responsible.

PNK, Putri Naga Komodo, the organisation setup to assist with the management. They were tasked with collecting the park entry fees and amongst other things running the patrol boats namely two Floating Ranger Stations that should be on permanent rotations in the Park.

Balai Taman Nasional Komodo, the Indonesian governments authority responsible for the park management are supposed to provide the rangers to the patrols who have the Authority to enforce the park rules.

In a surprisingly significant reduction of their operations responsibility PNK now advise that the patrol boats are in process of being handed over to the responsibility of BTNK. AND that they are not operating at the moment….Until they can finalise the details of the transfer in Jakarta!

IT seems that none took the time to think about the ONGOING protection of the park in the process… So it seems that no-one cares! Or at least no one cares enough to find a way to keep the patrols running. I hope PNK, and or BTNK can come up with a solution soon.

If they don’t the fishermen will continue to risk and enjoy to get away with massive catches from a protected area, at least for a short while, and then they will have to look elsewhere too…

PS. If anyone likes fishing …I know some great places….. No Worries…. just be Quick one way or another it wont last long!