South Kalimantan Fisheries sinks fish houses, restores marine ecosystem

Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - The South Kalimantan Marine and Fisheries Office (DKP) has sank fish houses or fish apartment as an effort to restore damaged marine ecosystem and improve welfare of fishermen.

The office in its written statement received in Banjarmasin, Thursday, informed their innovative activities was held in waters of Setarap Village, Tanah Bumbu District, on July 7 to 9, 2025.

Head of the DKP Rusdi Hartono said the initiative to sink fish house was to respond the increasingly concerning condition of waters due to unfriendly exploitation of fish resources. Destructive fishing practices have caused the destruction of waters ecosystem, particularly coral reef.

Read also: South Kalimantan developes conservation-based artificial coral reef
Read also: South Kalimantan readies 270,000 mangroves to rehabilitate coastal areas

He underlined that coral reefs play a vital role as spawning ground, nursery ground, and feeding ground for various fish species. Coral reef damage directly leads to a decline in fish resources.

The decline was clearly evident in several phenomena, declining catches, shrinking fish sizes, difficult and long distance fisherment must travel to find fishing ground, and scarcity of some fish species.

“To respond this problem, one concrete effort taken by South Kalimantan Marine and Fisheries is by constructing and sinking of fish apartment,” said Rusdi.

Fish apartment or fish house is a technologically engineered fish trap designed using polypropylene plastic partition components. It is environmentally friendly material.

The design of fish house resembles an apartement building with many gaps or partitions, consisting of 123 partitions. The main function of gaps and partitions is to protect eggs, larvae, and fry, while also providing a gathering place for various fish species.

With the presence of fish apartment, fishermen will find it easier to catch fish within a radius of 100-200 meters outside the fish house area.

Other advantage of this structure is its durability estimated to last 30-50 years. Fish apartment have been proven to be an effective solution for repairing damaged water ecosystem.

This is evident in the increase in fish species, catches, shorter fishing distance, and time efficiency for fishermen. The fish houses has also potential to transform the waters into a center of tourism-based fisheries economy.