Farmed Indonesian Mussels Rich In Mercury, Lead, Other Industrial Toxins, Study Shows

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With thousands of breeding lots producing so many mussels every day, waste from the farms is mounting. Stacks of shells are left to rot in and around the stalls where the mussels are shucked. Combined with the piles of household garbage scattered around the village, the air is heavy with putrid smells. Muli, a worker on Tarmi’s farm, points to a one-meter-high stack of shells outside one shack . “We just throw the shells there,” he said. “Or we can just throw them in the water. The waves will sweep them away.”

In addition to the farm waste that is piled around the shacks were the villagers live and work, both the drinking water and the waters where the mussels breed are full of toxins, said Ubaidillah, executive director of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi). “Clean water is scarce here,” he said. “It is highly contaminated from the industries whose waste flows to the waters here.”

The green mussels have been contaminated from both domestic and industrial waste. In addition to the mussel farms, there are at least 800 factories that manufacture glass, textiles, cattle feed and other products along th e North Jakarta coastline. “The mussels from Kali Baru and surrounding villages have been found to be contaminated with mercury, lead and other toxins,” Ubaidillah said. “The mussels will eventually become inedible.”

The Jakarta Agriculture, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Agency, the provincial fisheries authority, has issued several warnings, including some early this year, to stop farming along Jakarta’s coastline, he added. “But he provincial government only offered hundreds of thousands of rupiah as compensation for demolishing their lots and did not offer any solution for the fishermen’s future,” he said. “So the fishermen refuse to give up the business because it’s their only livelihood.” The chief of one neighborhood unit in Kalibaru village, Kosim, denied that the government had issued any warnings, but conceded the mussels were likely contaminated. “I know that some research proved that the mussels contain a lot of metals and mercury and that is why we can’t export our mussels,” he said.

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/a-toxic-harvest-in-jakarta/376348