Guest Author: Raymond Jakub, Applied Science Director, Rare

In many fishing villages around the world that collect fishes for the marine aquarium trade, the First Buyer is a vital link. The First Buyer connects fishers' catch to traders downstream in the value chain; and provides not only income, but sometimes lines of credit, fuel, and fishing gear to fishers and their families.
During the Campaign's recent visit to Talaga Raya, a Managed Access with Reserves that our partner Rare has cultivated with communities and the district fisheries agency in the region; we had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Lailinar, the First Buyer for the fishing village. Ms. Lailinar is a member of the community along with all of the fishers and their families; and plays this important role in providing for their livelihoods.

Next to Ms. Lailinar's beachfront home is a modest hut where she holds and packages fish for sale to middlemen downstream in the value chain. Electricity is limited in the village--they may receive ~4 hours of electricity per day powered by a generator. Ms. Lailinar takes advantage of this electrical window to keep fish holding boxes aerated, which she supplements with battery-powered air pumps during "off" times.

Fortunately, because Ms. Lailinar lives and works seaside, she can also hold fish just offshore in baskets, where fish can be held in freshly circulating seawater until they are ready to be transported to middlemen down the value chain.
Rare's Haris Setiawan checks Ms. Lailinar's basket off the shore of the beach for the catch of the day. Photo by P. Anderson/CRAFC.

IndoReefFish aims to provide Ms. Lailinar with training that she can incorporate in her business to improve fish care--and thus, fish survival and profits--from the point of capture to the point of sale & transport; as well as marketing and economic insights gleaned from a Value Chain Analysis that can give her the upper edge in negotiating fair prices for the fishes supplied by her village.
The IndoReefFish Team poses for a group photo with Ms. Lailinar, district fishery officers, and a village fisherman.

IndoReefFish is empowered by its partners: The John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Coral Reef Aquarium Fisheries Campaign, Rare and LINI; and the support of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and marine aquarium fishery businesses, associations, and agencies across Indonesia. Its goal is to showcase a model of sustainable sourcing of marine aquarium fishes that links public aquaria and zoos to the reefs that they exhibit, and the people whose livelihoods depend on those reefs. This program is sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Stay tuned for more adventures to come in other beautiful and unique regions of Indonesia!