Critical Fish Habitat Management to Secure Marine Fisheries Production in Indonesia

Abstract

As one of major economic sectors in Indonesia, fisheries had been targeted to contribute approximately 7% to the national GDP in the next five years. This target relies on the capacity of marine habitats and its biodiversity to support fisheries production and food security. Maintaining habitats' functions and services while mitigating the negative impacts from land-based and marine-based pollution and climate change is very challenging. Rapid development and population growth in coastal areas have been considered as among the driving forces toward habitat degradation due to habitats loss, overfishing, and pollution. In order to sustain fisheries production, national programs have been focused on the conservation of fisheries habitats rather than on rehabilitation. Marine habitat conservation has been undertaken since 1990s and has covered about 15.7 million ha of MPAs as of 2015. Totally, approximately 22.7% of the country's coral reefs, 17.3% sea grass beds, and 22% of mangrove habitats have been protected. These three habitats are critical for fish recruitment. Nevertheless, complementing such conservation efforts are direct habitat rehabilitation activities such as mangrove rehabilitation, coral transplantation and installation of fish apartments. These efforts are intended to provide artificial habitats for fish, and in the long term, facilitate natural habitat regeneration. Although these activities have been implemented in many areas and over years, its effectiveness in improving fish stocks has not been investigated intensively. The challenges in the future are related with effective management of MPAs to support fisheries, engagement of multi-stakeholders participation in habitat management, and improving the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts to include monitoring and evaluation.