A Community-designed Fish Catch Recording System: Will it be sufficient to manage local fisheries?

Although the government of Indonesia has been addressing the issue of unreported fisheries, its efforts have mostly been restricted to the industrial sector. In fact, 95% of the country’s fishers are categorized as... [ view full abstract ]

Although the government of Indonesia has been addressing the issue of unreported fisheries, its efforts have mostly been restricted to the industrial sector. In fact, 95% of the country’s fishers are categorized as small-scale, and have no reporting mechanism. This loss of data has hindered effective management of small-scale fisheries. Therefore, local communities should be at the forefront in addressing this issue. Since 2015, Rare has facilitated a community in Mayalibit Bay, Raja Ampat in establishing their own fisheries targets and management methods, with an emphasis on the community's local knowledge. In the Bay, where the local tenurial system remains strong, these processes were led by the customary leaders of the area. To develop a catch recording system, stakeholders first had to determine "what success looks like," from both scientific and community perspectives. They also had to define the community’s fishing area and eligible fishers, record their catches, and adaptively utilize the information to set a course. Using metrics such as the length distribution and production trends of the fisheries as indicators, stakeholders could quickly assess the condition of the fishery and identify possible management options for adoption. The practice of catch recording has now been promoted and enacted through a customary law, and has been adopted by 400 fishers in the area. This facilitated process of catch recording system development is scalable to many small communities in Indonesia, where the government could empower local communities while also gathering catch data to enhance national fisheries management.