Ayamaru Lake is one of the lakes with a high diversity of fish. It is of great economic value – both ornamental and consumption fish. There are a lot of potential catches that can be obtained from Ayamaru Lake in West Papua. It is because of the water quality at the lake and the environment surrounding it. In case you want to know more information about the lake, here is the info!
Ayamaru Lake’s Functions
Ayamaru Lake has a vital role in the socio-economic life of the people around it. Residents use the lake for tourism, transportation, and the fishing sector. In addition, this lake also has a valuable tradition of transporting people before public transport buses and airplanes. It connects the hard-to-reach areas around the Ayamaru District.
In addition, the lake is helpful as a profitable tourist attraction. Some of the supporting facilities are rest areas, fishing areas, and docks. Lake Ayamaru provides significant economic benefits to the local community due to the enormous diversity in various ornamental and consumption fish. It offers unlimited benefits for local people.
This ornamental lake fish has characteristics with colors such as reddish, yellow, white head, and black body. Some ornamental fish are endemic species that are so rare, such as the Boesemani Rainbow Fish. In addition, there is also fish consumption with varying economic values in West Papua, such as catfish, tilapia, carp, red shrimp, yellow and blue shrimp.
That’s why in the 90s, Lake Ayamaru was recorded as the highest exporter of shrimp and fish at around 150 tons. Several floating net cages have recently become an attractive business to develop in this lake. Of course, this is followed by management to preserve fish resources as incredibly unique endemic species.
Fish Diversity
Fishing activities are carried out in several spots along the lake, but the diversity is higher in the southern part of the lake. In this case, the identified fish can be categorized into endemic fish, native fish and introduced fish. The abundance of various species is expressed in astounding numbers. This is what makes the fish in Ayamaru Lake economically important.
There are four fish with high abundance for this type of consumption. In this case, shrimp also has a high economic value for fish consumption. Less common, however, are the endemic fish – the Boeseman rainbowfish, the Vogelkop blue-eyed fish, and the Hoese goby. Endemic fish in West Papua are increasingly challenging to find because of predatory fish such as carp and snakehead fish.
At the same time, there are fish species that fishermen catch for consumption, such as carp, giant carp, and kissing carp. However, introduced fish such as snakehead and catfish can also live in lakes with non-permanent inundation due to their habitat. Catfish, Clarias, and Anabantoids, have different respiratory organs to absorb oxygen in swampy areas.
Ayamaru Lake Water Quality
Several lake water parameters indicate that the water has water quality in the tolerance range for aquatic life organisms, including fish. The water temperature is between 24.0 to 31.70 Celsius. The average temperature is on average 26.59 C. However, the water temperature will decrease with depth. Meanwhile, the dissolved oxygen content is 6.08 mg/liter.
Dissolved oxygen in Ayamaru Lake shows a drastic decrease because the transparency boundary area is on average around one mg/l. In addition, Ayamaru lake has the potential as a tourist attraction with an area of about 2,500 ha. This eutrophic series rests on nutrients and regional irrigation in the lake West Papua. It is due to the high sedimentation rate, which causes light penetration.
Judging from the nutritional content and condition of the phytoplankton community, the waters of Lake Ayamaru are eutrophic. It takes great effort to control water fertility, primarily by developing a good sanitation system in residential areas around the lake. Generally, lake waters have a common pH value above seven or an average of 8.
Ayamaru Lake Fisheries Management
This lake has an ecological function as a habitat, groundwater control, and microclimate. The reduction in forest cover in the upper part of the lake causes a significant impact on water levels between the wet and dry seasons. If the water level is reduced, this will damage the community environment and livelihoods around Ayamaru Lake.
In addition, the Ayamaru lake has a socio-economic function, namely, a tourism and fishing destination. The livelihoods of the surrounding community depend on the condition of the lake. Meanwhile, rural people make a living from fish farming activities. Some fish farms apply floating net cages to be sent to the market in West Papua.
Since Ayamaru Lake functions as an ecological and economic buffer, it must be managed harmoniously. For this reason, efforts to restore endemic fish populations are of particular concern to the community. So it is necessary to control the release of introduced species that have the opportunity to become predators, such as snakehead fish and massive fishing.
