Abstract

RADJAWALI, Irendra. Examining local conservation and development: Live reef food fishing in Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia. RGCI [online]. 2012, vol.12, n.4, pp.545-557. ISSN 1646-8872.

Live reef food fish (LRFF) fishing is one of the most important livelihoods for the people of the coastal and small island communities within the Spermonde Archipelago in South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. However, LRFF fishing and trade is considered a threat to the reef ecosystem due to over-fishing and the use of cyanide as a method of increasing the LRFF catch. This paper examines the effectiveness of a development and conservation effort known as COREMAP (Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Project), which was funded by loans and grants from various international financial institutions and overseas development agencies that aim to protect, rehabilitate, and sustain the utilization of coral reefs and their associated ecosystems in Indonesia. In this paper, COREMAP is examined in order to answer the main research question, “Has the lack of understanding of the socio-economics of the LRFF fishing and trade been a factor in the shortcomings of COREMAP to protect, rehabilitate, and sustain the utilization of coral reefs and their associated ecosystem in Indonesia?” This paper demonstrates that the achievement of COREMAP’s goals has been hindered by COREMAP’s inability to incorporate commoditization processes characterized by profit accumulation in the hands of a few actors and by the persistence of debts structure through the existing LRFF fishing and trade networks into COREMAP’s strategies and policies. Moreover, this paper also demonstrates that COREMAP’s organizational structures have not been able to challenge the practices of corruption which maintain cyanide fishing practices, characterized by the existing LRFF prosecution insurance network. This paper concludes that the inability of COREMAP to clearly address the issues of profit accumulation and debts as well as to challenge the practice of corruption have led to shortcomings in the achievement of COREMAP’s conservation and development goals. The case of managing reef fishery in Indonesia provides valuable lessons for countries with abundant reef ecosystem and for international development agencies which support the conservation and development of coastal areas.

Keywords : Live reef food fish (LRFF); COREMAP; social networks; conservation; Spermonde Archipelago; cyanide fishing.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in English     · English ( pdf )