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Indonesia’s vast maritime territory is potentially home to more than half a million marine species, but a global census shows that only a negligible proportion of this valuable food source is being exploited.

“According to the Census of Marine Life, there are nearly a million marine biota in the sea worldwide, but of these how many do we depend on for food?” said Tonny Wagey, a senior researcher at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s research and development agency. “Probably less than 1 percent, which means the rest have not been properly explored.”

The Census of Marine Life is an international effort to research and document the diversity of marine life, identifying an estimated 950,000 marine species worldwide. Indonesia’s rich tropical waters potentially hold at least half of those species, the census found.

The study took 10 years to complete, running from 2000 to 2010 and involving more than 80 countries and 2,700 scientists. It was estimated that more than $650 million was spent on the mega-project.

Of the all the marine biota in the seas, only around 250,000 have been identified. With around 700,000 species still to be identified and cataloged, Tonny said, the world should be very hopeful because it could be sitting on a potentially massive untapped source of food.

He said the census was aimed at answering three basic questions about marine life: which species were extinct, which ones still existed, and which ones were at imminent threat of extinction.

“Through this study, we found that the population of tuna is decreasing, but it also allows us to find a potential replacement that is just as nutritious,” he said.

He added that despite the fact that Indonesian waters were so rich in life, very few of the country’s native fish species were currently exploited as a food source. Almost all fishing activity here occurs in coastal areas, leaving stocks there badly depleted.

By exploring deeper waters further from the coast, Tonny contended, Indonesia might find an answer to its food security problems and develop not just new sources of protein but also carbohydrates.

“Some biota were found to contain carbohydrate, so why not? If we know more we can use them to resolve our dependency on rice,” he said.

Ali Suman, another senior ministry researcher, acknowledged that fisheries in Indonesia only focused on waters less than 200 meters deep.

“But these shallow waters only comprise 30 percent of Indonesian maritime territory. The rest is deep sea,” Ali said.

He stressed the need to study deep-sea marine species, saying scientists to date only knew of 415 fish, 68 shrimp and 46 squid species in Indonesian waters — mostly in deep ocean waters.

Rokhmin Dahuri, the former maritime and fisheries minister and now a professor at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture’s (IPB) fisheries school, said much still needed to be done before seafood could become the staple of the Indonesian diet.

He said this included research and development in genetic engineering to produce marine biota that were fast-growing, procreating with proficiency, disease-resistant and tasty.

“They also have to be able to adapt or endure adverse environmental conditions and global climate change,” Rokhmin said.

Iskandar Zulkarnain, the deputy head of geology at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that developing the marine biota potential as a solution for food security required the support of the government.

“It’s not just a question of finding edible fish. The most difficult thing is the cultural barrier, because Indonesians associate food with carbohydrates like rice, potatoes or cassava,” he said.

In the meantime, he said, preserving the oceans was crucial because continued pollution and destruction of marine habitats would severely impact the richness of the marine biota and its safety as a potential food source.