Kunzmann, Andreas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9500-4332 (2000) Marine Ecosystems of Western Sumatra. In: Seas at the Millennium: an environmental evaluation. ; 2 , ed. by Sheppard, Charles R. C.. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 386-387. ISBN 0-08-043207-7

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Abstract

The island of Sumatra comprises 470,000 km² (6°N to 6°S; 96°E to 106°E). In contrast to the eastern coast, where coastal plains with large rivers, peat swamps and mangroves dominate, the western coast is characterised by rocky and sandy shores and coral islands.
The climate of western Sumatra is characterised by more than nine consecutive wet months (up to 6000 mm/y) and a maximum of two consecutive dry months. The average surface water temperatures range from 28°C in December to 30°C in May. The salinity and density values are very stable throughout the year ranging from 33-34 ppt and 1020-1021 kg/m³ (DHI, 1990) for most of the area. The regional oceanography is largely unknown. It is characterised by exchange processes between the Andaman Sea and the Malacca Strait in the north and between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, via Sunda Strait, in the south. Upwelling develops off the southwest coast during the northeast monsoon from December through March. In contrast to most western Indonesian seas, western Sumatra is characterised by a narrow shelf with steep continental slopes and steep islands. A 1700 m deep trench is less than 80 km west off the mainland. Only 100 km west of the Mentawai Islands, depths of 5000 m are common. From a geosciences perspective, the very active Sumatra subduction zone shows characteristic features, such as trench, ridge, fore- and back-arc basin and volcanic arc (island). The large sedimentary basins of North Sumatra, Sibolga and Bengkulu are little studied areas, but are thought to host considerable demersal fish resources (Lohmeyer, 1983).
The territorial waters of western Sumatra {70,000 km²) constitute 2% {8% including EEZ) of the total for Indonesia. In 1995, 10% of Indonesia's total catch or 250,000 t of marine fish were produced here, including 15,000 t reef fishes. In contrast to the Fisheries Department, the Ministry for Environment claims that shrimps are fully overexploited and reef fishes are heavily overexploited.

Document Type:	Book chapter
Programme Area:	PA1
Research affiliation:	Ecology > Experimental Aquaculture
Date Deposited:	26 Feb 2026 13:21
Last Modified:	26 Feb 2026 13:21
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/6107

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