Mersing islands to be gazetted for dugong, seagrass protection

The Fisheries Department is studying the gazetting of waters around the Mersing cluster of islands in Johor to protect dugongs and their seagrass habitat.

In a statement yesterday, the department said these islands are the only place in Peninsular Malaysia where the dugongs can be found.

However, due to the threat to its habitat and seagrass ecosystem, the dugong population was dwindling, and there have been about 10 dugong deaths, including calves, between 2015 and 2022.

“Although there is no estimate of actual numbers of the dugong population in the Mersing Islands, the MareCet Research Organisation suggests that the dugong population in the area does not exceed 100, and it is most likely to have a number of fewer than 100,” said the department.

According to the department, the seagrass meadows at Pulau Sibu and Pulau Tinggi in Johor are important grazing areas for the dugong.

It said the effects of grazing could often be seen from surveys of the seagrass since 2014.

The unique and fertile seagrass not only supports the dugongs’ survival, but enquiries with the community around the Pulau Sibu-Pulau Tinggi area revealed that the seagrass also helps other commercial species such as mabang squid spawn there.

“Although the Pulau Sibu and Pulau Tinggi waters have been gazetted as a marine park, only 38 percent of dugongs are seen to be within the boundaries of the marine park, with most of the mother-baby (dugong) pairs found to be outside the marine park area,” the department said.

Its statement, in conjunction with World Seagrass Day, which is celebrated yearly on March 1, is an effort to raise awareness of preserving and conserving the plant and maintaining the balance of the marine ecosystem.

Regarding measures to conserve seagrass, the department also said preliminary studies of ex-situ seagrass propagation are being actively conducted on selected species at potential locations that require seagrass habitat rehabilitation.

Seagrass is an often neglected part of the marine ecosystem, and in addition to providing habitat and shelter, and as a food source for various marine species including dugongs and turtles, it also plays a role in reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and improving seawater quality.

- Bernama

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