God's Plan for Rajaampat, Conserving Oceans in the Eastern Seas of Indonesian Archipelago

SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES

Kampung Mutus is a fishing village thriving from the sea. They are famous for their marine aquaculture. It was Ateng, a Chinese descent from Jakarta, who started it.

Ateng first came to Sorong in 1989 in search of tongseng or red grouper. He sought fishing sites in the Yensawai and Batanta areas, but there the red groupers were few and far between. One day somebody from Kampung Mutus invited him to visit the village.

“It was my big brother who met with Ateng, he took him to Kampung Mutus. There were plenty of tongseng to find there. Eventually the village became a fishing village, because it can foster all the fish caught in the holding cage,” Markus Dimara, Chief of Kampung Mutus, told me.

Markus was one of the first to assist Ateng in the village’s aquaculture endeavors. They experienced the dark times of fisheries in the 90s. According to him, damages from bombs, potassium, and anesthetics used by the fishermen at the time still last to this day in Rajaampat.

“These days, fishermen would go out in the morning with twenty liters of petrol at most and go home with only ten fish, some only catch two. The fish stocks continue to decrease due to unregulated fishing in the past,” he told me.

“Now, tongseng is priced at over a hundred thousand Rupiah, while back then it used to be up to three hundred thousand Rupiah per kilogram. We’re just fishermen here, we live off the sea. Today and tomorrow, if the Almighty still graces the people of Rajaampat with showers of blessings, then we will still be alive, living in harmony with nature. The sea will give the people of Raja Ampat hope,” Markus concluded.

Donny Fernando/National Geographic Indonesia

REMEMBERING LEONARD SALEO Leonard Saleo was the Father of Conservation of Western Yensawai, who died at the hands of illegal loggers. He was known for his formidable character and his undying spirit to conserve nature.

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