The Economic Value of Capture Fisheries Service from Coral Reef Ecosystem on Kelapa Dua Island

Abstract

Coral reefs are critical ecosystems for coastal and marine biota interaction. The coral reef ecosystem on Kelapa Dua, Seribu Islands, is in poor condition with a low live coral cover. This condition decreases fishery productivity, as the coral reef is the habitat and nursery ground for fish and marine biota. The problem in this research is how to increase the percentage of live coral cover on Kelapa Dua Island, so fishermen do not have to fish further to other islands. This study aims to analyze the coral cover percentage and the economic value of the direct use value of capture fisheries services from the coral reef ecosystem on Kelapa Dua Island. The method used in this study to calculate the percentage of coral reef cover is Underwater Photo Transect (UPT) at a depth of 5 meters along 50m at three locations. The method for the capture fisheries data collection is an accidental sampling questionnaire to 30 out of 50 fishermen with a market value approach. The results of this study indicate that the economic valuation of coral capture fisheries services on Kelapa Dua Island per year for fishermen is IDR 394,800,000/US$ 25,165 (1 USD=15,688 IDR) with a coral reef coverage percentage of 12.45%. This value contributes 2.5% of the economic value of capture fisheries services of the coral reef ecosystem in the entire Kepulauan Seribu National Park. This value can be increased by increasing the diversity of types of catch, the biomass of the catch, and the selling price of the catch.