Guest Authors: Adriel Prayoga, Research Officer and Ryannyka Dwi Astuti, Research and Education Manager, LINI
Come travel with the IndoReefFish Team to our next adventure in Bali Indonesia. Here, IndoReefFish partners Adriel Prayoga and Ryannyka Dwi from LINI, an Indonesian fisheries conservation NGO, introduced Aquarium Fisheries' Director Paul Anderson to fishers from Les Village, a community in North Bali where fishers have been collecting reef fishes for the marine aquarium trade for generations. LINI has been working with this fishing village for over a decade, providing training in sustainable fishing and business practices.
Our first stop was to the home of Nyoman (Jabo) Sujana, a veteran marine aquarium fisher in the village. He invited us in for a conversation, and began by describing his fishing practices to us.
Jabo also fishes for food fish, though his main source of income is from the aquarium fishery. The food fish fishery can offer more income, but higher operational costs come with it, as it requires going further out to sea (i.e., more boat fuel and other costs associated with preparing for a long boat trip). Having the flexibility to fish for either commodity provides Jabo and his family some financial stability. Jabo can switch to fishing for food fish when he may be unable to catch aquarium fishes due to bad weather, or lack of orders from his buyers.
One of the many ways in which working with LINI and his fishers' group Mina Lestari has improved his way of life is by converting from roving fishing to local fishing for the aquarium trade. Like many veteran aquarium fishers in Les Village, Jabo used to travel long distances to far-off reefs to find "hot spots" of aquarium fishes to collect. This practice was lucrative, but also expensive, as--like the food fish fishery--roving fishing entailed traveling by boat to far-away places for days or weeks at a time; along with those associated higher operational costs.
Now, fishing for aquarium fish locally makes for an easy day! Jabo is usually home by noon and has plenty of time to spend with his family. His quality of life is much improved by changing this important aspect of his fishing practice.
IndoReefFish aims to introduce enlightened fishers like Jabo to other marine aquarium fishers across Indonesia. Fishers in other remote regions of the country can learn valuable lessons in sustainable fishing and business practices from him, thanks to the relationship that LINI has fostered with him over the years.
IndoReefFish is empowered by its partners: The John G. Shedd Aquarium, Aquarium Fisheries, 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 Bali Indonesia!
