GENEALOGY OF CONSERVATION NGOs ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AMBEL-MA'YA TRIBE CONSERVATION AREA IN RAJA AMPAT

This article aims to reveal the genealogy of the International Conservation NGO towards the establishment of the Ambel-Ma'ya tribal conservation area so that the Ma'yalibit Bay conservation area in Raja Ampat is formed as well as a departure station for the establishment of other conservation areas in Raja Ampat. The research approach uses a Cultural Studies approach with descriptive qualitative research methods and slices of theory used, namely, the genealogy of practice and power from Michel Foucault.The results showed that before international conservation NGOs operated in Raja Ampat, they recruited actors and agents who were recruited from intellectuals of the Ma'ya indigenous peoples' institutions and religious and traditional leaders. Conservation NGOs act as captains as well as organic intellectuals and traditional intellectuals for the Ambel-Ma'ya tribe in the Ma'yalibit Bay of Raja Ampat acting as sea commanders in the boat of conservation ideology. Conservation NGOs are hiding behind the discourse of knowledge about high marine tropical biodiversity and the threat of its degradation as a result of the fishing behavior of fishermen who are not environmentally friendly, becoming the basis for discourse on knowledge, articulation and practice of language texts and capital of power to carry out discursive practices in the formation of conservation areas on tribal waters stage. Abel-Ma'ya. Keywords: Genealogy, NGO, Conservation, Ambel-Ma'ya, Raja Ampat

Space and Species Interactions in Welfare Estimates for Invasive Species Policy

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) can cause catastrophic damages to lake ecosystems. Bigheaded carp are one such species that pose a current threat to Lake Michigan. Bigheaded carp are expected to have spatially differentiated impacts on other aquatic species in the metapopulation. Policymakers must decide how much to invest in mitigation or conservation policies, if at all, by understanding how invasions impact social welfare or social wellbeing. Estimates of social welfare implications, however, may be biased if important interactions between species and space are overly simplified or aggregated out of the model. In this analysis, a bioeconomic model that links an ecological model with an economic model of recreational fishing behavior is used to complete a comparative analysis of the social welfare implications across several different ecological specifications to demonstrate what biases exist if species interactions are neglected or if ecological characteristics are assumed to be homogenous across space. Results of the bigheaded carp case study suggest that social welfare losses from the invasion vary substantially if species interactions are excluded and vary less if space is treated homogeneously.

Linking Fishing Behavior and Ecosystem Dynamics Using Social and Ecological Network Models

One goal of ecosystem-based management is studying an ecosystem and its people, the socio-ecological system, in a qualitative and quantitative modeling approach that can provide management agencies with possible outcomes of their actions using scenario forecasting. Ecosystem-based fisheries management strives to use the socio-ecological system approach, including direct and indirect impacts on multiple species including the behavioral responses of fishers after a regulatory change (a gillnet ban). Here, we link fisher behavioral networks with a mass-balanced food-web ECOPATH network model of an estuarine ecosystem and its commercial fisheries for an analysis of fishing impacts after a gillnet ban on multiple species using ECOSIM. We modeled fisher behavioral networks using reported catches of species from individual fishers along with the gear fished to create nodes in a gear/species affiliation network. Individual fishers with common gear/species use are indicative of common fishing behavior. When such fishers have high network centrality and are engaged in multiple gear/species fisheries, they can transition to other gear/species fisheries along “switching pathways” when facing a regulatory change. We used an index of joint gear participation to identify likely gear switching pathways, and we predicted changes in fishing effort after a gill net ban. We simulated the gill net ban in ECOSIM under two scenarios of fishing effort: Scenario 1, gill net fishing effort of 0%; Scenario 2, gill net fishing effort of 0% with increased effort in the alternative gear fisheries using the predicted switching pathways for the affiliation network. Scenario 1 predicted an increase in flounder (Paralichthys spp.) biomass over a decade. Under Scenario 2, fishers targeting flounders were predicted to switch from gill nets to pound nets. Scenario 2 predicted a 7% decline in flounder biomass over ten years, rather than an increase in flounders. The gillnet ban with increased effort due to switching is predicted to have the opposite effect on the conservation goal, which was to increase flounder stocks. Fishery management that incorporates a socio-ecological approach modeling both fisher behaviors and multi-species ecosystem responses can reveal single-species responses that are in the opposite direction of the anticipated management goals.

Fishers’ response to temperature change reveals the importance of integrating human behavior in climate change analysis

Climate change will reshape ecological dynamics. Yet, how temperature increases alter the behavior and resource use of people reliant on natural resources remains underexplored. Consequent behavior shifts have the potential to mitigate or accelerate climate impacts on livelihoods and food security. Particularly within the small-scale inland fisheries that support approximately 10% of the global population, temperature changes likely affect both fish and fishers. To analyze how changing temperatures alter households’ fishing behavior, we examined fishing effort and fish catch in a major inland fishery. We used longitudinal observational data from households in Cambodia, which has the highest per-capita consumption of inland fish in the world. Higher temperatures caused households to reduce their participation in fishing but had limited net effects on fish catch. Incorporating human behavioral responses to changing environmental conditions will be fundamental to determining how climate change affects rural livelihoods, food production, and food access.

Education for Marine Environment Concern for Muara Baru Fishermen in Accordance with the Maritime Convention [Edukasi Kepedulian Lingkungan Laut bagi Nelayan Muara Baru Sesuai dengan Konvensi Maritim]

Marine pollution has been common in Indonesian waters, including one of the hot issues that just happened is the discovery of plastic waste in the bodies of dead whales stranded in Wakatobi, Sulawesi. Marine pollution, in this case, garbage, is more often due to human behavior in littering. It also includes the possibility of fishing behavior. Fishermen in their work, it often takes days to go to sea, so they bring supplies, which are not uncommon to supply food into garbage in the open ocean. And also garbage or other pollution caused by fishermen. In maritime science, there are many conventions that regulate environmental concerns when humans are in the waters. These conventions are the basis for providing education to fishermen regarding environmental concerns.

The fishing mantid: predation on fish as a new adaptive strategy for praying mantids (Insecta: Mantodea)

Observations in unmanipulated, semi-natural conditions were made of a single individual of the praying mantid Hierodulatenuidentata, while hunting and capturing an unusual prey for this kind of insect, guppy fish, Poeciliareticulata. This repetitive fishing behavior, recorded daily, is reported here for the first time and discussed in relation to the adaptive behavioral plasticity of praying mantids. We speculate regarding learning from experience as a hunting strategy.

Accounting for spatiotemporal variation and fisher targeting when estimating abundance from multispecies fishery data

Estimating trends in abundance from fishery catch rates is one of the oldest endeavors in fisheries science. However, many jurisdictions do not analyze fishery catch rates due to concerns that these data confound changes in fishing behavior (adjustments in fishing location or gear operation) with trends in abundance. In response, we developed a spatial dynamic factor analysis (SDFA) model that decomposes covariation in multispecies catch rates into components representing spatial variation and fishing behavior. SDFA estimates spatiotemporal variation in fish density for multiple species and accounts for fisher behavior at large spatial scales (i.e., choice of fishing location) while controlling for fisher behavior at fine spatial scales (e.g., daily timing of fishing activity). We first use a multispecies simulation experiment to show that SDFA decreases bias in abundance indices relative to ignoring spatial adjustments and fishing tactics. We then present results for a case study involving petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani) in the California Current, for which SDFA estimates initially stable and then increasing abundance for the period 1986–2003, in accordance with fishery-independent survey and stock assessment estimates.