Conservation impact from Lamteungoh fishing village: lesson learned from Aceh coastal area

Abstract

Indonesia is an archipelago nation with most of its big cities lays on or adjacent to the coastal area. Thus, driving huge demand for marine and fisheries resources in the concerning region. However, with a long coastline, the rural areas or coastal villages are distributed along the coast surrounding the archipelago, therefore it is reasonable to consider the impact being given by the coastal village on its effort toward conservation. In this study, we applied the Rapid Appraisal of Fisheries Management System (RAFMS), which is a recently developed technique to quickly assess the fisheries management system, which is time-efficient, was cost-effective and was gathered from coastal community and stakeholders. In this study, the study area is located at Lamteungoh village in the coastal area of Peukan Bada subdistrict, Aceh Province. This village is known for its pristine coastal and marine ecological condition compare to the other region. The result shows that the traditional fishermen institution called the Panglima Laot has a significant role in the region’s conservation actions. Some policies of implementing area- and time-based restrictions in engagement to the marine resource by the fishermen, as well as restrictions to catch particular marine species have impacted positively towards conservation activities in the region. Thus, it is possible to replicate this traditional management system at the other coastal areas beside Aceh province in Indonesia.