Kiluan is a small fishing village in Lampung Province, Indonesia, which lies at the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. Over the last decade, a community-based dolphin-watching industry has developed there in large part due to Kiluan’s native populations of small cetacean species, including the spinner dolphin and the Risso dolphin. Like many villages across Indonesia, marine-based tourism has become an increasingly vital sector of the local economy, and in Kiluan village, dolphin-watching tourism has emerged as a particularly lucrative side of the tourist industry.  

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the whale shark, or Rhincodon typus, has been added to IUCN's red list of endangered species, following a population decline of 50% over the last three generations. While the causes of the whale shark population’s decline are not yet fully known, the conservation of their remaining habitat is more critical now than ever before.

En un reciente estudio realizado por Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) y FAUNAGUA, con el apoyo de WWF-Bolivia, se estimó que el valor económico anual de la pesca comercial amazónica es superior a los 100 millones de Bs, y probablemente alcanza los 148 000 millones de Bs. El pescado amazónico es parte de una compleja cadena productiva que involucra pescadores, mayoristas, minoristas y restaurantes, proveyendo empleo a más de 5 000 personas. Además de este valor, existe una importante contribución de la pesca de subsistencia a la seguridad alimentaria de las familias que viven en zonas rurales, donde el pescado es la principal fuente de proteínas.

Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) Indonesia employs a research-to-policy approach to providing sustainable development goals for marine management all across Indonesia. As a part of this approach, CSF Indonesia collaborated with the Agency of Research and Human Resources (BRSDM) within the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) to hold a National Seminar on Research and Policy in Fisheries Socio-Economics.  

In partnership with the Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (La Federación Costarricense de Pesca) (FECOP), Conservation Strategy Fund is proud to share our latest video on sport fishery economics. Our latest video demonstrates the surprising impact that sport and charter fishing have on the economy, the dynamic interplay between sport and commercial fishing, and the importance of effective fisheries management.

For years, the fishing industry in the Sorong region of West Papua, Indonesia, has relied on a broker system between local fisherman and commercial companies; a system that disproportionately prioritizes export-grade fish for trade, often to the detriment of local fishers. As a result, when the government placed restrictions on fishing activities and markets due to COVID-19, local fisherman suffered a devastating setback. Unable to fish or sell their fish at market, many local families were left without a primary source of income. 

Photo credit: Shuttershock

Photo: Solid oil spills in front of a Bintan Island resort. Photo credit: Ani Suryanti  Case Study of Bintan Island, Riau Islands

Marine Fellowship Program mentors and participants in Gorontalo, making a “c” for conservation sign. Photo credit: Setia Dewi 

Gillnet Catches. Photo courtesy of Dwi Ari Priyanto