Photo by Ridzki R. Sigit/Mongabay-Indonesia. Retrieved from news.mongabay.com
Excerpt from news.mongabay.com
A recent rapid survey in Lorang village by Indonesian researchers, however, has indicated signs of depletion in the abundance of mud crabs, sparking new concerns among local fishers who depend on the marine creature for their livelihoods.
What happened to the crabs?
The boom in mud crab fisheries in the Aru Islands started in 2014 when the Indonesian government imposed a moratorium on various fisheries commodities, including shrimp and fish.
“In the late 1990s, some people in Lorang were hunting for crabs in the mangroves,” said Natanel, who was also one of the first generation of crab catchers in the village. “But it started to flourish from 2015 until now.”
The Indonesian government has estimated the potential for crab resources in the fisheries management area that includes the Aru Islands at 1,498 tons with a total allowable catch of 1,198 tons. Fishers in Lorang village, for example, don’t need to go far to sell their mud crabs, as buyers from elsewhere in the district would travel there themselves.
Typically, crabs weighing 300-700 grams (10-25 ounces) are sold for 90,000 rupiah ($5.70), and those weighing more than that, up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), are priced at 180,000 rupiah ($11.40). Crabs larger than 1 kg can be sold for up to 300,000 rupiah ($19).
