Ecosystem approach applicability to sustain endemic fishes in Lake Laut Tawar, Aceh

Abstract

Lake LautTawar is the only home for two endemic cyprinids, i.e. Rasboratawarensis and Poropuntiustawarensis, both are economically important species supporting food security and livelihood to local inhabitants. The present research was aimed to examine the applicability of EAFM, ecosystem approach to fisheries management in protecting endemic fishes in LLT. By referring to standard module, the domains and its indicators were ranked and weighted. Having given score to the domain, the composite domain and the sum of aggregation values of all domains, the performance of fishery management could be presented as flag model. Gap analysis was implied by contrasting EAFM’s recommendation against current achievement with refer to defined indicator. The applicability of EAFM to sustaining endemic fishes was assessed by means impact analysis under the scenario of three generic goals(1) augmenting the quality and quantity of habitat and sustainable utilization of fishery resources, (2) promoting higher socio-economic benefits, and (3) improving function and synergy among management institutions. The results showed that recommendations from EAFM’s model were all doable and that impact positively to sustaining endemic species. The challenges in implementation encompass authority, cooperation and coordination, stakeholders, invasive species and administration status of the lake.