Constraints to the sustainability of cage aquaculture for resettlement from hydropower dams in Asia: An Indonesian case study

Abstract

From 2985 to 1988, the Saguling and Cirata hydropower reservoirs in the highlands of West Java, Indonesia, displaced more than 40,000 families. As part of a comprehensive resettlement plan, an attempt to resettle 3,000 families in water-based floating fish cage aquaculture and land-based aquaculture support was initiated. Although the reservoir cage aquaculture developments were successful from a fish-production viewpoint, since 1944 cage aquaculture has not been socially or environmentally sustainable. Fish cage aquaculture in reservoirs can be an important new means of population resettlement from hydropower dam construction and protein production in tropical developing countries only with adequate government planning for fisheries; adequate financial compensation for lost assets; rigid enforcement of institutional regulations guaranteeing the long-term benefits of the new lakes for the exclusive use of the displaced people; enforcement of regulations on cage numbers to prevent environmental degradation; and adequate government subsidies for aquaculture job creation, training, long-term extension support, and active monitoring.