PTAR and Muspika Batangtoru took a group photo after releasing Mahseer fish fry into Batu Horing River.
Batangtoru, 2 June 2022 – PT Agincourt Resources (PTAR), operator of the Martabe gold mine, and the community of Batu Horing Village, Batangtoru, South Tapanuli released 15,000 fish fry into Batu Horing River, consisting of 5,000 Mahseer fish fry (local endemic species) and 10,000 Nile Tilapia seeds. Strengthening river ecosystems helps in efforts to preserve the environment.
PTAR Community Relations Manager Masdar Muda described the purpose of the event:
Environmental preservation is the responsibility of us all. We hope with today’s communal involvement we recognize a rare sense of belonging. This breakthrough activity is due to the village head in collaboration with PTAR and will have a major and lasting impact on the whole village.
The fish fry release at the Lubuk Larangan junction of the Batu Horing River and was attended by PTAR Community Senior Manager Christine Pepah, Military Regional Commander (Danramil) of Batangtoru, Chief of Sectoral Police (Kapolsek) of Batangtoru AKP Tona Simanjuntak, Subdistrict Consultative Council (Muspika) of Batangtoru, and community of Batu Horing Village.
Lubuk Larangan is considered as a focal point of local wisdom that holds customary practices of natural conservation and preserving the river from pollution, destruction, or excessive exploitation. Lubuk larangan is a collective customary policy to strengthen community awareness in preserving local fish species, which are increasingly rare to find at the river, especially the mahseer fish species. During particular periods, the community is prohibited from catching fish and river biota, so that the fish fry can grow well, with sanctions for violating such prohibitions. Lubuk Larangan is then opened and the community is allowed to harvest fish there.
The Head of Batangtoru Subdistrict Maratinggi Siregar supports this re-stocking initiative and also putting the opening of Lubuk Larangan in Batu Horing Village on the annual agenda of Batangtoru Subdistrict. This agenda will be promoted to the community outside Batu Horing Village to attract their interest in coming to fish at the Batu Horing River.
