Mud Crab Fishery in Hoat Sorbay, Kei Kecil Island, Eastern Indonesia: Traditional management and adjustment to intervening regulations

Local communities who live along the coast and have used marine resources for their livelihoods for generations certainly have a resource management and utilization system that was formed as a result of their interactions with and understanding of their aquatic environment. This research focuses on mud crab fishing among the Evu people occupying the shores of Hoat Sorbay Bay on Kei Kecil Island, and how they deal with market, state, and NGO intervention in their traditional harvesting system. Field data were obtained through observation of crab fishing activities in mangrove areas, interviews with mud crab fishers, and examination of documents regarding crab regulation. The result shows that even though mud crab fishing activities are still carried out following traditional practices and strategies based on knowledge passed down from their elders, the fishers also adjust to external requirements of changing market demands and conservation issues by incorporating them into their fishery system.


Introduction
Maluku is an archipelagic province with more than one thousand islands, its people mostly live in coastal areas and small islands.The different sizes of islands and different ecological features cause their inhabitants to have varied adaptations to their physical environment.People's adaptation is based on local ecological knowledge that comes from their experiences, understanding and interpretation of their environment.So, such local knowledge in human-environment relations is the result of perception and the understanding, between naturally given and culturally constructed world, between the way people practically conceive the natural environment and what it supplies them [1,2,3].People's practical perceptions and their imaginative understandings of environment and its natural resources are interconnected and mutually influential in everyday life [2].Thus, the cultural construction of nature is a necessary condition for building and recognizing local knowledge [4].
As culture is involved, local knowledge is inseparable from human agents and the situations in which it is produced, reproduced, and transformed.In recent decades, the literature on local knowledge or traditional or indigenous knowledge has emphasized its dynamic and contingent character [4,5,6,7].Hornidge and Antweiler [7] in the context of environmental uncertainty and local knowledge discussed the notion of knowledge in development discourses, by focusing on 'knowledge societies', 'knowledge for development' proposed by international donor organizations, information and communication technologies for development as global initiatives, 'innovations and innovation systems', and 'knowledge and change adaptation'.
The dynamic nature of local knowledge makes it flexible and responsive to modification and innovation, and interlocked with various knowledge from outside, especially where local subsistence faces environmental uncertainty and change or where it interacts with commercial markets.Studies from Maluku, for example from Kei, Buano, and Ambon discussed how local systems adapt and innovate in coping with changing socio-environmental conditions [8,9,10,11], or from Seram on

Research Area
The research was conducted in the village of Evu on Hoat Sorbay Bay located in Kei Kecil Island, Maluku Tenggara Regency, Maluku Province (Figure 1).There are six villages along the bay, and Evu is one of them.Administratively, they form the Hoat Sorbay district along with seven other villages in the area.Hoat Sorbay is part of the marine conservation area in the regency (Kawasan Konservasi Pesisir dan Pulau-Pulau Kecil Pulau Kei Kecil, Pulau-Pulau, dan Perairan Sekitarnya di ), established by ministerial decree in 2016.In this Kabupaten Maluku Tenggara Provinsi Maluku marine conservation map, the bay is designated as a limited use zone (zona pemanfaatan terbatas), aquaculture subzone (sub zona perikanan budidaya).Evu as a research location has a population of 759 souls, consisting of 372 males and 387 females in 2021 [21].Most of the population makes a living as fishermen, including seaweed cultivators and mud crab fishers.Other occupations include farmers, chainsaw operators, food vendors at the Evu public bathing pool, and construction workers.

Methods
Observations and interviews as data collection techniques were conducted in October and December 2021, and additional interviews were carried out in January 2022 and November 2023.We observed mud crab fishing activities along the bay by joining fishermen who went to set up traps (bubu) and inspect and remove the catch from the traps.We also observed post-harvest handling, and visited the pond where the crabs are kept before being sold.
Interviews were conducted with mud crab fishermen who are members of the Wear Manun fishing group that was formed in 2019.Interviews were also complemented by group discussions, especially on the topic of place names on their fishing ground and strategies to put mud crab traps.In addition, we interviewed several fishermen outside the group and a buyer who lives in Tual City.Data was obtained as well from interview with and data sharing from the personnel of NGO working with the Wear Manun group for the fisheries improvement project.Ingratubun (co-author) was involved with the project, so our data also drew on his own work and experience with fishermen activities at Evu.A study on local documents and national regulations was part of this research.

Mud Crab Fishing in Evu
The Hoat Sorbay Bay is covered by quite dense mangrove forests, and is the largest mangrove forest ecosystem in the Kei Islands.The area of mangrove forests is around 959.05 ha, spread over either side of the bay for more than 15 km.This mangrove ecosystem is the main habitat for mud crabs (wa'i) that are caught by Evu fishermen.Two species that are targeted, namely kepiting laut, sea crab (Scylla serrata) and kepiting darat, land crab (Scylla olivacea).Mud crabs are caught using traps, woven from bamboo, called bubu.The trap is placed at the bottom of the waters around the mangrove roots, is left overnight, and will be examined the next day.Bait is hung inside the trap.Crabs that are attracted to the bait will enter through the 'mouth' of the bubu and become trapped inside.On average, fishermen will get one to two trapped mud crabs in one 4 bubu.Sometimes there are no mud crabs trapped at all.Thus, this fishing gear is passive, waits for prey to enter the trap, and it is environmentally friendly.Trap that is damaged or is no longer suitable for use will be brought back home.Usually, the useful life of a bubu is no more than six months.
As far as people remember, bubu traps began to be used around 1980 when there was a demand for mud crabs for the external market.Because they were sent alive outside Kei and Maluku, the mud crabs must be in perfect condition without defects.Previously they caught the crabs using branched wood called kakai or cut them with a machete.At that time, mud crabs were caught only for household consumption, so the crabs did not have to be in a certain condition for commercial purpose.
Evu fishermen mark the locations where crab traps are installed in their fishing grounds according to the names of the places named by their ancestors.This shows that mangrove forests may look rather the same to outsiders, but not so to their inhabitants.These place names help organize a local system for describing the Hoat Sorbay area, allowing Evu fishermen to accurately locate specific areas within the bay's mangrove forests.The place naming system helps fishermen navigate to choose fishing points to place their bubu trap.We recorded around 39 place names along the 11 km of the 15 km mangrove forest which is the fishing grounds for Evu mud crab fishermen.
The decision to place a trap in a particular location is based on careful observation of the behavior of the crab, the tidal situation, and the position of the moon.Knowledge about crab behavior, both related to natural conditions such as tides and lunar gravity, as well as related to the type of food and eating patterns of crabs, as well as related to aspects of human behavior in crab habitats, are a set of local knowledge that is shared among Evu fishermen.This local knowledge is practiced and optimized by them to obtain a good harvest, for example, fishermen maximize baits and the number of bubu during the highest tide period as this is the best crab fishing season.

External Market Intervention
As mentioned previously, Evu mud crab fishermen began using bamboo bubu in the early 1980s due to market forces.Around that time, fishermen were also introduced to bubu made of iron or metal, but they were less popular with both fishermen and crabs.The rust that comes out of this iron trap prevents crabs from getting close.
Crabs must be sent alive and without defects to the market outside Kei.The crabs caught deformed, for instance, because of fighting each other in the trap if two crabs are trapped, are marketed within the village to visitors at the public bathing pool, or for household consumption.
Shipments outside the Kei region are carried out by air and sea, and it takes several days.The recent market's main destination is Makassar in South Sulawesi.The trader we interviewed preferred the way Evu fishermen tie crabs because they do not easily come loose during delivery.This is due to post-harvest handling.They tie the crabs using raffia rope so they do not run away or fight between themselves, they then are put into a pond located on the beach as a temporary storage place, waiting 5 for the delivery day to the collector traders.Usually purchases by collectors are made every two weeks according to the ship's schedule.A trader purchases crabs from Evu fishermen according to the size of the crab.Pricing is based on the estimated carapace width.However, prices in Makassar are determined based on the weight of the crab.Large Scylla serrata have a higher selling price than Scylla olivacea.The trader has to pay attention to the regulated carapace size so that when it is transported by air or sea outside the production area it does not violate the rules set by the government.Before the commodities are sent outside, BKIPM (Fish Quarantine, Quality Control and Safety of Fishery Products) Tual inspects the products.Thus, the trader must ensure that the products he sends pass inspection to avoid sanctions for violations, and for this reason fishermen must also ensure that their catch is not rejected by the trader.Current government regulations specify a carapace width of minimum 12 cm, previously 15 cm.Therefore, to ensure this size, Evu fishermen initially equipped themselves with a length of bamboo of that size.The undersized crabs would be released back into the sea.Apart from carapace size, the government also regulates other conditions of the crab as will be discussed in the following section.

National Regulations regarding Crab Fishing
Due to high market demand for crabs throughout Indonesia, and concerns about their sustainability, the Government issued regulations regarding the catching and management of crabs (Scylla spp.), along with two other commodities, lobsters (Panulirus spp.) and blue swimming crab (Portunus spp.).We will only focus on regulations governing the use of Scylla spp.which affect mud crab fishing in Evu.
In the period of 2015 to 2022, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has issued at least five regulations governing crab fishery that apply nationally.Several aspects are regulated, including size and weight, gonad maturity level (tingkat kematangan gonad, TKG), and fishing gear used.
In the 2015 and 2016 ministerial regulations (Permen KP No. 1/2015 and Permen KP No. 56/2016), the size of mud crabs that are allowed to be caught is those with a carapace width of over 15 cm.The 2016 regulation also prohibits catching mud crabs under 200 grams per individual.The three regulations issued in the following years (Permen KP No. 12/2020, Permen KP No. 17/2021, and Permen KP No. 16/2022) reduce the size and weight limit for mud crabs that are allowed to be caught for consumption, to a carapace width of over 12 cm or a weight of over 150 grams per individual.The reduction of the size and weight limit may indicate a decline in the quality of crab resources in other part of Indonesia which might lead to this reduction.
All these regulations do not allow catching mud crabs that are in a state of laying eggs.However, the 2016 and 2022 regulations provide an exception by the permissibility of catching crabs that lay eggs from December to February.These ministerial regulations also emphasize the use of fishing gear that is passive and environmentally friendly.

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The Evu mud crab fishermen have adjusted their catch to meet these government regulations, especially the size of the carapace width.The Evu mangrove crabs with a carapace width of 12 cm usually weigh more than 150 grams so there is no reason not to meet the minimum weight allowed.
Apart from the national regulations regarding crabs, in 2018 the Evu village government issued a regulation governing the sustainable use of mud crabs in the village (ohoi) of Evu.Although the 2018 village regulation is applied locally, its content is more advanced than the national regulations (see Table 1.).One of the reasons for the issuance of this village regulation was the practice of catching crabs that damaged mangroves carried out by two fishermen originating from outside the village in 2016-2017.While Evu fishermen operated bubu to catch mangrove crabs, these two fishermen used gancu, which is a fishing gear in the form of two pieces of iron with hooks at the ends.This fishing gear is active, with which fishermen pull crabs out of their holes.These fishermen also used a machete to cut mangrove roots at points where crabs hid or their gancu got stuck.The Evu people are fully aware that the presence of mud crabs is very dependent on the existence of mangrove forests.As the Evu people always say: 'as long as there are mangrove leaves, there are mud crabs'.WWF-Indonesia in collaboration with the Regency Fisheries Office.This village regulation (perohoi) legalizes the use of fishing gear which at that time was not yet regulated in government regulations, and regulates the treatment of mangroves, size and weight and gonad maturity level (tingkat kematangan gonad, TKG).It also regulates the total number of permitted catches (jumlah tangkapan yang dibolehkan, JTB) for Scylla serrata and Scylla olivacea (see Table 1.).Interestingly, the sanctions for violators, apart from monetary fines, are also fines in the form of object recognized in customary law (adat) including lela (a kind of small canon) and mas kei (a kind of gold) that are familiar to the community.
In practice, regarding the minimum size limit for crabs, Evu fishermen comply with government regulations by referring to the latest government regulation (Permen KP Nomor 16 Tahun 2022) as the newest regulation which is higher than the village regulation.However, the village regulation is still effective today because of its relevance in managing the sustainability of mud crabs stocks and mangrove ecosystems in Hoat Sorbay Bay.

Introduction to Logbook
The small-scale mud crab fishery in Evu Village began to attract the attention of a national NGO, WWF-Indonesia in 2018, for a long-term 'fish for good' project initiated by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) through the Fisheries Improvement Project.This project aims to encourage improvements in fisheries businesses that refer to eco-label standards towards sustainable use.One of the initial activities introduced by WWF-Indonesia in collaboration with the District Fisheries Service for mud crab fishermen in Evu was a logbook recording model that they had never done before.
Each fisherman who is a member of the Wear Manun group who participates in this program, is provided with a large book as their logbook.Every time they return with a catch, they must record the information related to their catch and fishing activity, and later the sale price in the columns provided in their book.The information recorded includes fishing location, number of traps operated, number of crabs caught, species, sex, carapace width, weight, price, operational costs, type of bait, as well as records of how many were released into the sea because they did not comply with regulations, how many are defected or deformed, and also records by catch.Fishermen started using logbooks in October 2020, replacing the loose pieces of paper that they started to use for administrative benefit since it been introduced by the NGO.
Recording this amount of information means that fishermen have to adapt and incorporate this additional administrative work into their local management schedule or procedure.The information in the logbook is useful for fishermen to assess their catches and income as well as subsequent fishing strategies.Even though there are fishermen who have not made optimal use of the logbook data, they understand that their data will contribute to better management practices, including a study of the condition of sustainable crab stocks at the Hoat Sorbay fishing ground.
Recapitulated data from fishermen logbooks shows that from October 2020 to January 2023 (28 months), the total catch of 11 fishermen who were members of the Wear Manun group was amounted to 10,051 individuals, consisting of 5,652 sea crabs (Scylla serrata), and 4,399 land crabs (Scylla olivacea), more males (73%) than females (27%).
Two graphs displayed in the 2023 WWF-Indonesia report [22] drawn from the fishermen's logbooks show that the Evu fishermen comply with national regulations for the size and weight of crabs (Figure 5 and Figure 6).
Figure 5 shows that there were 16 crabs (only 0.01%) caught that did not comply with the regulated carapace width (<12 cm).However, Figure 6 shows that all the crabs caught weighed well above 150 grams which meets the weight regulation.This shows that Evu crab has good quality.
Interview with a fisherman also indicates fishermen's compliance with the rules for gonad maturity conditions.The fisherman recorded a crab that was caught in egg-laying condition (visible on the outer abdomen) in his logbook, and then released it into the sea.

Conclusion
Since mud crabs from Hoat Sorbay Bay on Kei Kecil Island have been sold to external commercial markets, new regulations have intervened in traditional or local harvesting systems.External market control, national regulations, and NGO intervention lead to adjustments in Evu harvesting activities by operating certain fishing gear (bubu trap), specifying the crab conditions (the catch must not be defective, the size or weight and gonad maturity level of the catch must be appropriate), and adding administrative work to fishermen (filling in the logbook).The Evu fishermen incorporated these interventions into their traditional management as a strategy to cope with the dynamics of change, especially market change.
The logbook data, containing information on fishermen experiences in mud crab fishing is continuously analyzed by them.In that way these data become additional knowledge that strengthens their local knowledge in the future.At the same time local knowledge already led to local regulation on crab fishery preventing the damaging the mangrove forests, and in that way protecting the habitat of mud crabs.The Hoat Sorbay Bay is the largest mangrove forest on the island and is part of the marine conservation area in the region.Thus, an active role from the community is required in maintaining its resources and conserving its environment through better management practices.Improvement of fisheries occurs by balancing the achievement of economic, ecological and cultural purposes.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. A mud crab fisherman is entering mangrove forest in Hoat Sorbay

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Mud crabs trapped in the bubu

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Post-harvest: crabs are tied, ready for market

Table 1 .
Aspects regulated in ministerial and village regulations regarding mud crab for consumption.Peraturan Ohoi Evu Nomor 01 Tahun 2018 tentang Pemanfaatan Perikanan Kepiting Bakau Berkelanjutan di Ohoi Evu (Ohoi Evu Regulation Number 01 of 2018 concerning Sustainable Utilization of Mangrove Crab Fisheries in Ohoi Evu), refers to the 2016 Ministerial Regulation and the 'Fisheries Improvement Project', an initiative program supported by