WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2022 69 The government should be responsible and make an official statement of guarantee that fish products from these reservoirs are safe for human consumption. Lastly, the reservoirs formed in former open-pit coal mines should be opened and managed by the government or by a credible institution for safe use by people. Notes Asfie Maidie and Henny Pagoray, Fisheries Development Laboratory, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Mulawarman University, Indonesia. Email: asfiemaidie@gmail.com; pagoray.henny@gmail. com Ismail Fahmy Almadi, Analytical Fisheries Laboratory, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Mulawarman University, Indonesia E-mail: ismailfahmyalmadi@gmail.com. References Environment Agency. 2008. Abandoned mines and the water environment. Environment Agency, Rio House, Waterside Drive, Aztec West, Almondsburry, Bristol UK. Greenpeace. 2005. The environmental impacts of coal. www. greenpeace.org. JawaPos. 2021. Kaltim punya 1 735 lubang tambang (East Kalimantan Province has 1 735 ex-coal mining open holes). jawapos.com. Kaltim Post Newspaper. 2015. Timbun Lubang Perlu Rp. 352 miliar (352 million Rupiah is Needed to Close the Hole of ex-Coal Mining Open Pit). Kaltim Post 24 December 2015, Indonesia. Maidie, A., D. Udayana, Isriansyah, I.F. Almadi, A. Susanto, K. Sukarti, Sulistiawaty, I. Manege and E. Tular. 2010. Pemanfaatan kolam pengendap tambang batuara untuk budidaya ikan local dalam keramba (Utilization of coal mining sedimentation pond as a site for endemic fish cage culture). Jurnal Riset Akuakultur 5:437448. Miller, D.J., K.J. Semmens, R.C. Viadero, Jr. and A.E. Tierney. 2004. The resource potential of mining discharge water for aquaculture. Word Aquaculture 35(4):57-59, 70. Mongabay. 2021. Ketika warga Sikalang gunakan air dari kolam bekas tambang batubara (When Sikalang Village people use water from ex-coal mining reservoir). mongabay.co.id. Nebulastation. 2018. Bahaya lubang bekas tambang (The unsafe of ex-coal mining open pit hole). nebulasolution.net. Otchere, F.A., M.M. Veiga, J.J. Hinton, R.A. Farias and R. Hamaguchi. 2004. Transforming open mining pits into fish farms: moving towards sustainability. Natural Resources Forum 28:216223. Prokal. 2017. Catat! Ikan eks kolam tambang berbahaya (Attention! Fish from ex-coal mining reservoir is not safe to consume). kaltim. prokal.co. Simmons, J.A., S. Summerfelt and M. Lawrence. 2001. Mine Water Aquaculture: AWest Virginia, USA Success Story. Global Aquaculture Advocate 4:57-59. Tribun. 2015. Bahaya, air kolam bekas tambang batubara mengandung logam berat (Danger!! Ex-coal mining reservoir water contain heavy metals). kaltim.tribunnews.com. Woodbury, D. and Arbainsyah. 2020. Being realistic about coal mine rehabilitation in Indonesia: An ecological perspective. news. mongabay.com. protest does not seem fair because insufficient soil was available to fill former open-pit mines entirely and also because reservoirs were already in use by local people for subsistence aquaculture, as fish habitat for fishing, recreation, and as a freshwater source for agriculture and households. The protests against coal mining and the use of reservoirs still continued. The NGOs were not in direct confrontation with subsistence aquaculturists but did not agree with mining where giant reservoirs remained after coal extraction. The NGOs made confrontational statements that coal mining will result in reservoirs with high levels of heavy metals that are toxic to fish and will accumulate in cultured fish. This statement was noted in many local newspapers and social media (Tribun 2015, Prokaltim 2017, Nebulasolution 2018, Mongabay 2021). In mid-2010, an NGO and some researchers claimed that 10 t of dead cultured fish in a netpen, mainly striped catfish, common carp and Nile tilapia, was caused by heavy metals in a former coal mining reservoir. This statement hit those three cultured species hard. Even fish that did not originate from former coal mining reservoirs could not be sold in markets. Water quality analysis showed that water quality in this former coal mining reservoir was very poor (dissolved oxygen concentration near zero, pH < 5, and high concentrations of sulfide, ammonia and nitrite). The cause of the fish kill was actually self-contamination by fish cultured at high density using high-protein feed in intensive culture. After this issue, the subsistence fish farmers lost a lot of money. Fortunately, consumers returned to buy fish normally with no specification where the fish was cultured. Are Former Coal Mining Reservoirs Barren Environmental Areas Forever? There is still no method or technique available for filling giant former coal mining open holes without destroying the environment elsewhere. NGOs also believe that, after coal mining is finished, the land will become dry and barren but, with good management doing re-planting after one year, the surrounding area of former coal mining reservoirs should grow vegetation that will become dense some years later, and wild animals will live there (Fig. 2). The surrounding reservoirs of former coal mines would be mostly green with vegetation making beautiful scenes, therefore attracting the local people to take time to rest personally or with family. Local people enjoy recreational activities in reservoir area. Most fishers use pole and line to catch fish in these reservoirs. Is the Environmental NGO a Friend or Foe to Aquaculture? Neither friend nor foe to aquaculture in former coal mining reservoirs, the environmental NGO is seemly important to aquaculture in that aquaculture production must done in best manner and the safest the product for human consumption. The NGOs not agreeing with coal mining is one protection against environmental destruction. However, if the country’s economics must be for the benefit of the people, then the consequences of coal mining must be managed to make it useful for peoples’ livelihoods and also minimize environmental damage. To make aquaculture important to users of a former coal mining reservoir, there should be valid data and consideration of water quality, including heavy metals concentration and the carrying capacity of the aquatic environment for aquaculture.
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