The fisheries ecology of the Lubuk Lampam river floodplain in south Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Tropical floodplain fisheries are multispecies and multigear in nature, with many different fishing techniques adapted to the varying hydrological conditions of the flood, ebb or dry seasons. In this paper, 9-year time series' of water levels and the monthly fish catches of different species, gears and habitats, and a short 8-month time series of the length frequencies of key fish species are used to describe the operation of the Lubuk Lampam river/floodplain fishery in south Sumatra. The dependence of each gear on a particular stage in the flood cycle is illustrated. Young fish are first caught in small-meshed, capital-intensive barrier and seine gears of groups, or head fishermen, often funded by absentee leaseholders, before they become available to the larger-meshed portable traps and hooks of individual fishermen mostly in the following year. The management implications of these findings are discussed as are the changes which have occurred in the composition of fish species at the site since an earlier study of 30 years ago. Although some large fish species may have declined, there is no evidence of overfishing at present, at least in the sense of the total yield potential of the resource as a whole.