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In many countries, ‘open access’ arrangements are the status quo, providing all fishers within a defined jurisdiction (e.g., national) the same rights to access fisheries resources. This free-for-all approach results in increasing numbers of fishers competing for finite resources. Unsurprisingly, this puts strain on fish stocks and can dramatically impact ecosystem health. Conversely, Rights-based Fisheries

On 15 and 16 June 2023, the Regional Plan of Action to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (RPOA-IUU) and the ATSEA-2 Project organised a hybrid Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on fisheries intelligence. The FGD brought together representatives from seven RPOA-IUU-participating countries: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Timor-Leste. It served as

For the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region, climate change represents an environmental transboundary issue of utmost priority. According to a 2021 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, and unprecedented in thousands of years. With that in mind, and to better understand

Regional problems require regional solutions. This is why collaboration is so crucial to the work being done by the ATSEA-2 Project. Our approach is embodied in the Regional Plan of Action to combat IUU fishing (RPOA-IUU). IUU fishing continues to pose a major threat to the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region. Ever since its

For millions of years, sea turtles have played a vital role in maintaining the balance of marine habitats. However, populations have been dwindling in recent decades due to a combination of poaching, habitat destruction and bycatch. Evidence of this worrying decline can be seen in Com Village, Timor-Leste. Com Village is part of Nino Konis

Timor-Leste had just celebrated its Independence Day the day before the nation’s first ever sea turtle training session, which was hosted on 29 November 2022. It was a nice, sunny day in Com Village, Lautem Municipality, Timor-Leste. The heat did not seem to dissuade participants from joining the training, which was held in a semi-outdoor

As part of wider efforts to raise awareness and build capacity among key stakeholders in the ATS region, the ATSEA-2 Project held a series of informative webinars in 2022, covering topics related to conservation of habitats and resources. As the year drew to a close, this quarterly webinar series was concluded with a pair of

In 2021, ATSEA-2 completed a regional assessment of marine and land-based pollution hotspots in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region. The study showed that, while the ATS region is highly productive and rich in resources, it is also under threat from oil spills due to expansive oil and gas exploitation, especially in the Timor

The clock had just struck half past six in the morning in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, when four staff of the Regional Project Management Unit team arrived for a visit. Since the last time they were here, in early 2020, Covid-19 had caused the world to shut down. Therefore, the visit to Timor-Leste was

Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for the last 110 million years. Existing for so long, however, does not mean that sea turtles are immortal or live stress-free lives. In fact, current sea turtle populations are greatly threatened by several human activities, such as unselective fisheries, direct take, predation, light pollution, illegal trade, habitat loss

The Timor Sea in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region is particularly vulnerable to oil spills. One of the biggest in recent times was the Montara disaster in 2009, when an estimated 40 million litres of oil leaked from a faulty rig. ATS countries have differing levels of preparation and response capacity when it

The ocean connects, sustains and supports us all. Yet its health is at a tipping point and so is the well-being of all that depend on it. To restore balance to the ocean, we must work together. The Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region is home to coral reefs, a quarter of the world’s mangroves,

Data and information regarding coastal and marine resources in the Arafura Timor Seas (ATS) region provide a vital foundation for decision making, planning and action plans. The process of data collection, validation, analysis and interpretation requires a great deal of time, expertise and resources. In many cases, gaps in the data are discovered where the

Marine oil spills represent a major environmental disaster. They can cause significant damage to ecosystems, along with socioeconomic and cultural resources. The impacts of marine oil spills are not limited to the immediate vicinity of the spill, but can be felt across the globe. As the threat from potential oil spill hot spots in the

Data is a crucial element of fisheries management. Lack of data can contribute to misunderstood stock and inappropriate management, leading to stocks being under or overharvested. To ensure the quality and credibility of data gathered, it is therefore essential to make sure that data collectors have the right skills, tools and knowledge to gather information

The risk of extreme climate-related disasters is expected to increase further due to climate change. Severe impacts of climate change on nature and society have already been observed globally and locally. Thus, taking steps toward adaptation is crucial to mitigate and avoid such impacts. The Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Information Platform (AP-PLAT) welcomes potential collaboration

The Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region is home to several red snapper species that are important to commercial, artisanal and recreational fisheries in the region. To sustainably manage the fisheries, a plan of comprehensive and integrated ecosystem-based approaches to natural resource management and conservation is being developed in a participatory manner for the region.

It was just a few minutes before 8am in Denpasar, Bali, but all participants had already gathered at the Indonesian learning hub, ready to begin their Essential-Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (E-EAFM) training. Bali was not the only learning hub to host such training; various other participants had gathered in two other destinations, in Dili,

An ecosystem valuation study estimated the economic value of coastal and marine resources in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region to be about 7.3 billion USD (ATSEA-2, 2021). However, anthropogenic factors threaten marine resources in the ATS region, such as unsustainable harvesting, bycatch, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and climate change. A promising design