mudcrab fisherwoman. photo credit: mdpi profile_ir_mk.pdf · mudcrab fisherwoman. photo credit:...
TRANSCRIPT
Kaimana Site Profile: Mudcrab Fishery in Arguni District, Kaimana Regency, West Papua Province
Mudcrab fisherwoman. Photo credit: MDPI
The speedboat as main transportation mode. Photo credit: MDPI
Logistic Tips
The site is located in Arguni District,
Kaimana Regency, West Papua
Province. MDPI is working in 5
villages (kampung).To reach
Kaimana Town from Denpasar, Bali,
it can take until five flights through
six airports in five different islands.
To reach Arguni District, it can take
around three hours trip using
speedboat at least 15 HP
(horsepower) engine capacities with
volume of 5 GT (gross ton). The
distance between Kaimana Town
and Arguni District is approximately
60 km.
If the monsoon comes, the
speedboat sometimes cannot reach
Kaimana Town, and this will force
the boat to stop at Tanggaromi area
which is located at the entrance of
the Gulf Arguni. In this area, the
waves when the windy season is not
too large and is an area that can be
reached by land transportation from
Kaimana Town.
Suppliers and fisherwomen
regularly commute to and from
Kaimana Town. Currently, there is
no land transportations because of
the rugged terrain and other factors
such as infrastructure development.
Map of Kaimana
1. Fishers Associations (FA)
MDPI initiated to develop Fishers Associations (FA) in Kaimana for in the realm of implementing Fishery
Improvement Programs. The FAs was officially inaugurated in September 2015 by handing over
establishment documents to DKP Kaimana.
Currently there are 4 FAs in the Kaimana site:
1. FA Toftofu: 30 fishers.
2. FA Base Abuma: 40 fishers.
3. FA Itfunfidir: 20 fishers.
4. FA Totemasu: 47 fishers.
Fisherwomen who are joined FA developed by MDPI. Photo credit: MDPI
2. Life as Fisherwomen: Early Morning Activities
In the night before go to sleep, they will put a net into the water in front of the village in order to catch
the baitfish for mudcrab fishing. They do it by themselves or accompanied by their husband. In the
morning, the first thing they do is cook for the family and eat breakfast with them. After cooking, they will
check the net they put out the night before and will collect the baitfish caught in the net.
Cooking is the first activity to start the day. Photo credit: MDPI
Collecting the baitfishes in the morning. Photo credit: MDPI
3. Baitfish
The baitfish that are caught by net usually consisting of ikan sembilan ekor dua, belut garnies, ganadi and
lele (local names). Each baitfish will be chopped into three or four pieces.
Ikan sembilan ekor dua, one of the baitfishes. Photo credit: MDPI
4. Fishing Gear: Bubu (Fish Trap)
Bubu is a fishing tool largely known among fishermen, in the form of a cage shaped trap and it is a passive
fishing gear. This traditional form of the fish trap can be made from rattan, wire, metal, mesh, wood or
plastic that woven in such way so the target fish, once caught, are not able to get out. Baitfish are inserted
inside the bubu to attract the target fish.
Fisherwomen in Arguni District use bubu made from metal material. There are two shapes of bubu they
use: square and butterfly. Square bubu has dimensions of 45 cm length, 30 cm width, 18 cm height and
butterfly bubu has dimension of 55 cm length, 43 cm width, and 23 cm height. The Bubu is tied to 5 - 6
meters length of rope attached to a floating device.
Karel Yerusa, MDPI’s Kaimana Site Supervisor, is holding the square bubu on his right hand and the butterfly bubu
on his left hand. Photo credit: MDPI
Bubu with chopped baitfish inside it. Photo credit: MDPI
5. Fishing Technique
After the baitfish is inserted and tied into the bubu, they will go to the bubu fishing point. On the way to
the bubu point, they will leave the bubu open in order to save space in the wooden boat. They will close
the bubu perfectly after they reached bubu point and then put it down into the water. To spread 14 bubu
in the water, a fisherwoman needs around 2 hours to complete. The distance between two bubu points
is around 20 – 25 meters away.
The next step is the waiting process. They will wait and take a rest in rumah singgah for an hour before
they row the boat for around 30 minutes to the bubu points to check if there are mudcrabs caught. They
will check bubu one by one by pulling it out. If there are mudcrab caught, they will take the crab using a
net called tanggu to move the crab safely from bubu to the boat. Quick check will also tell them if the
mudcrab has eaten all the baitfish or if there is leftover baitfish to use again for the next lowering of the
bubu.
The fisherwomen will immediately tie the newly caught mudcrabs using plastic rope in order to prevent
the mudcrab claws from biting. To tie the mudcrab, the fisherwoman gently steps on the crabs and tie the
rope around the body and the claws. They will put the mudcrab into a sack after tying it up. The skill of
tying a mudcrab is a skill they learn from each other.
The next activity is putting down the bubu again and repeating the fishing technique activities until 6 PM
and then go back to village to sell the mudcrabs to local suppliers.
A mudcrab fisherwoman with all of her fishing gears. Photo credit: MDPI
6. Wooden Boat
Fisherwomen will put the bubu and baitfish into the small wooden boat whose length around 4 – 5 meters
equipped with wooden oar as well. The maintenance of the boat happens approximately once in a month,
a session where they will wash the wooden boat to remove moss and then they will dry it up under the
sun.
Wooden boat in front of the village. Photo credit: MDPI
Inside a small wooden boat of a mudcrab fisherwoman in Kaimana. Photo credit: MDPI
7. Fishing Ground
Fishing ground of the mudcrab fishing is around three hours rowing from the Kampung Tugarni; two hours
rowing from Kampung Bayeda and an hour rowing from Kampung Moyana. The fishing ground names are
Muara (Estuary) Tugarni, Muara Karora dan Muara Jarwara. The type of vegetation that dominates the
habitat of the mudcrab is the nipa tree forest.
Mangrove forest covers an area of 50,000 hectares that can be found along the bays and estuaries in the
area. Recently, the local government developed a policy to retain 30 % of forest areas into areas
designated for conservation.
The fishing ground with nipa trees. Photo credit: MDPI
bubu
rumah singgah (transit house for mudcrab storage)
8. Fishing Time Activity
Fishing time of mudcrab fisherwomen is from around 8 AM to 6 – 8 PM.
9. Mudcrab Life Cycle
Mudcrab Scylla serrata is the fishing target. In mating season, female crab carapace will be soft. Male crab
will climb on top of the female for mating process. By the time the female crabs will spawn, she will find
the location of the deep water to lay their eggs there. The number of eggs reaches more than 1,000,000
eggs per spawning event. By the time the eggs hatch, the juvenile crabs will be heading to the nipa and
mangrove forest. On their way to nipa and mangrove forests, many crabs die because of predatory fish.
Crabs that survive will undergo adolescence and adult life in the nipa and mangrove forest. At the age of
approximately 6 months, these crabs become mature and will venture out in search of food until it reaches
the deep water.
Scylla serrata mudcrab. Photo credit: MDPI
Female mudcrab (left) and male mudcrab (right). Photo credit: MDPI
10. Rumah Singgah (Transit House)
After collecting mudcrabs they caught into the boat, they will go to the transit home near nipa trees to
store the mudcrabs and then they will go back to fishing ground to return to fishing activities.
Rumah singgah serves multiple purposes: As a mudcrab storage and as a temporary home to stay. In the
middle of the day, they will take a break and have lunch in the rumah singgah. Usually they will stay in the
rumah singgah for 3 nights and then they will go back to the village to sell mudcrabs to the suppliers.
Rumah singgah size is around 5 meters length, 3 meters width and 3 meters height. It is made entirely
from wood from the forest near the village. Their husbands will go to forest to take the materials and then
they will transport it to the fishing ground using speedboat. Therefore, they only pay for the
transportation (speed boat rent and fuel) and nails. A newly built Rumah singgah can survive
approximately a year and then they will build a new one after a year.
Ownership of the rumah singgah is varied. It can be owned by personal or a team. Some of the
fisherwomen have a collaboration to make a joined rumah singgah together. In a rumah singgah, we can
meet not only the fisherwomen, but sometimes we can meet their kids, their husbands and their pets.
They will take their kids to fish and stay in the rumah singgah because they are still very young. Some of
the husbands visit the rumah singgah to help or to accompany their wives.
Rumah singgah near nipa forest. Photo credit: MDPI
Husband and dogs in rumah singgah. Photo credit: MDPI
Existing rumah singgah (left) and the construction of the future rumah singgah (right). Photo credit: MDPI
11. Landing Site
The landing site is located in front of the village. Fisherwomen will tie the wooden boat here and sell the
mudcrabs to suppliers.
Landing site. Photo credit: MDPI
12. Mudcrab Production
Based on the data from Dinas Kelautan dan Perikanan (DKP) Kaimana, recorded production in 2014 was
as much as 36 tons, while the total crab sent out from the Balai Karantina Ikan (Fish Quarantine) data
showed 10% of total production or as much as 3.5 tons per year.
13. POKMASWAS (Kelompok Masyarakat Pengawas): A Community Based Surveillance
POKMASWAS was developed by DKP Kaimana, Conservation International and MDPI. It was officially
inaugurated in September 2015. The main function of POKMASWAS is to ensure that there is no violations
in the conservation area. They also have the assignment to give counselling to community about the
updated regulations. For data collection activities, they will support MDPI to ensure that the fishers fish
in sustainable way, based on government regulation.
POKMASWAS is equipped with speedboat. Photo credit: MDPI
POKMASWAS inauguration in front of POKMASWAS patrol basecamp. Photo credit: MDPI
14. Sirosa, Traditional House
Sirosa is a traditional house in Kaimana. It is a public space owned by the village. It made entirely from
wood, nipa leaves and tied with rattan, without nails at all. All of the materials are from the forest. This
traditional house has a function as a place to gather all of the community members to have meetings,
discussions, cultural events or celebration.
Sirosa has important role as public space for the community. Photo credit: MDPI
15. Deklarasi Adat
Deklarasi adat is a cultural commitment from the community to obey and to support the zonation system
of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Kaimana Regency. It is also a commitment from the community,
cultural leaders and religious leaders to align cultural policies to government policies. They are also
committed to be actively involved in MPA management and to actively communicate and coordinate with
government.
Deklarasi Adat. Photo credit: MDPI
16. Minimum Size and DKP Regulation
Currently the central government has not issued a mudcrab fishery status nationally. According P4KSI
(Research Centre for Fisheries Management and Conservation of Fish Resources), there has been no study
from Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affair (MMAF) on stock measurement and management of the
mudcrab quota.
PERATURAN MENTERI KELAUTAN DAN PERIKANAN REPUBLIK INDONESIA NOMOR 1/PERMEN-KP/2015
TENTANG PENANGKAPAN LOBSTER (Panulirus spp.), KEPITING (Scylla spp.), DAN RAJUNGAN (Portunus
pelagicus spp.) stated that the mudcrab fishing can be done when the mudcrab’s carapace size is above
15 centimeters and based on SURAT EDARAN MENTERI NO. 18-2015 about additional rule for mudcrab
harvest, fishermen only allowed to catch the crabs with minimum weight of 300 gram.In Kaimana, a
mudcrab with 13 cm carapace length is already weighed 300 gram, so the fishermen are basically already
obeyed the government’s rule to catch the crabs with minimum 300 gram weight.
17. Data Management Committee (DMC)
DMC of Kaimana Regency was developed by MDPI in collaboration with Conservation International (CI)
and DKP Kaimana. The initial DMC meeting was held in October 2015. The purpose of DMC meeting is to
develop a co-management forum to gather fishers, suppliers, industries, universities, NGOs and
government to discuss about mudcrab fishery management in their region.
18. MDPI Office
MDPI office in Arguni District, Kaimana Regency. Photo credit: MDPI