ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY REEF FISHING HAS BECOME A HABIT OF FISHERS WHILE MARANNU
The village of Seraya Marannu on Seraya Besar Island, Komodo sub-district, West Manggarai, is a village bordering Komodo National Park. The village with a population of less than 500 households is dominated by fishing households. The main catch of Seraya Marannu fishermen is reef fish, such as grouper.
A total of 70% of men of productive age work as fishermen. The dominant fishing fleet is an outboard motol boat with fishing gear used in the form of fishing rods and their modifications.
Since 2015, WWF-Indonesia through the capture fisheries program has collaborated with two fishermen groups, namely the Sumber Rejeki Joint Business Group (KUB) and the Sea Results KUB. Both groups consist of 13 members each, 3 people as administrators and 10 members.
These two groups of fishermen are the legacy of the fishermen mentoring program of the West Manggarai Food Security and Fisheries Agency (DKPP) in 2014. To foster fishermen in implementing environmentally friendly fishing activities, WWF-Indonesia assisted the groups in the training of Beter Management Practices (BMP) of Grouper and Snapper Fisheries.
The series of trainings aimed to increase the capacity of fishermen in catching and handling grouper and snapper fish properly. Not only that, the group was also equipped with the knowledge of how to handle shark bycatch according to the Better Management Practices (BMP) Shark Handling Guidelines.
The first BMP material delivery was conducted in 2016 in Seraya Marannu Village with the target audience being all village fishermen. During 2018, the two assisted groups were exclusively retrained on BMPs for grouper and snapper fishing practices.
Before the BMP was socialized, we first assessed the fishing practices of the fishermen, whether they were in accordance with the environmentally friendly fishing rules in the BMP. For the initial assessment, the fishing practices of KUB. Sumber Rejeki is already 72% in accordance with the BMP. As for KUB. Hasil Laut, 73.56% are in compliance.
In the training process, fishermen were very enthusiastic in listening to the material, this was proven by the active fishermen giving input based on their experience so far, for example how to handle fish caught by decompression during the fishing process.
In addition to equipping them with skills in catching and handling, the group was also given assistance on institutional strengthening. The assistance includes establishing the legality of the group and holding regular monthly meetings.
Fishermen are becoming more aware: Start Recording Catches
After group assistance through BMP socialization, there was an increase in value by 9-10%. Which proves the fishermen of both groups are starting to process towards better and more sustainable fishing.
For example, fishermen began to record their fish in a logbook form that was developed together. The aim is to identify fishing trends and seasons, as well as to contribute to the stock assessment of fish resources in the waters of P. Seraya. It is hoped that this logbook can be adopted into the management of fishers.