Sustainable management of grouper and snapper fisheries: the case of Saleh Bay, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB) is a major source of commercially important demersal fishes such as grouper and snapper. Fisheries production of demersal and reef fishes alone reached approximately 18% of total production... [ view full abstract ]

West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB) is a major source of commercially important demersal fishes such as grouper and snapper. Fisheries production of demersal and reef fishes alone reached approximately 18% of total production of NTB in 2014. As such, how NTB manage its grouper and snapper fisheries sustainably could be used as a good example to other regions.

This paper reports the development of management plan for sustainable fisheries of grouper and snapper in NTB. Employing fisheries reference points as basis for management decision-making, we use grouper and snapper fisheries in Saleh Bay as case study. The plan was prepared through several stages: (i) identifying biological characteristics of grouper and snapper populations; (ii) catch monitoring; (iii) determining fisheries reference points; (iv) preparing management plan document; (v) public consultation at national, provincial and local levels; and (vi) developing action plan for grouper and snapper fisheries.  The sustainable fisheries management plan is built by two main components: input and output controls. Input control aims at limiting the allowable catch sizes; banning the use of destructive fishing methods and encourage the use of environmentally-friendly methods; increasing fishing gears selectivity; protecting core zone associated with fisheries; and prohibiting coral reef extraction to install fishing traps. Complementarily, the objectives of output control are to limit the number of fish catch; and to promote mutually beneficial agreements with fish traders to accept and sell snappers and groupers that comply with rules in input control. Challenges and opportunities faced during the process will also be discussed.