Delegates from the National Fisheries Authority of Papua New Guinea (PNG) visited the Sea Farming Center in the Seribu Islands on 6 December 2025 to see how community-based mariculture is being used to support livelihoods while maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems. Hosted by the Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies (Pusat Kajian Sumberdaya Pesisir dan Laut/PKSPL) IPB University team, the visit focused on practical approaches that link habitat protection and small-scale coastal enterprises in small island settings.
During the visit, the delegation observed how local communities manage different stages of sea farming, from nursery and grow-out areas to local trading, supported by regular technical guidance from the PKSPL IPB University team. Community members are also involved in basic ecosystem monitoring around the farming sites, helping to ensure that mariculture activities do not degrade surrounding habitats. This integrated approach was highlighted as a key reason why sea farming in the Seribu Islands has remained environmentally sustainable while providing steady income for participating households.
Discussions also examined how clear access arrangements and shared management responsibilities help reduce conflicts over marine space and encourage long-term stewardship of coastal areas. Rather than operating as individual businesses, farmers work within a locally organised system that links production with environmental care and collective decision-making. This structure helps mariculture activities complement, rather than compete with, other coastal livelihoods such as small-scale fishing and marine tourism.
Representatives from PNG expressed strong interest in adapting aspects of this model for their own coastal and island communities, where livelihoods remain heavily dependent on capture fisheries and opportunities for mariculture are still limited. As noted by Kenneth Yhuanje, Manager of the Crab Fishery at the National Fisheries Authority, “Coastal and island communities in both Indonesia and PNG have similar socio-economic challenges. It would be helpful to establish similar community-based farming system in PNG, with authorities facilitating market access. This would improve community benefits from the marine resources and relieve pressure from capture fisheries.”
The delegation also highlighted the potential of combining small-scale fish farming with community enterprises and habitat protection as a way to diversify income while reducing pressure on wild fish stocks. Participants further discussed practical considerations such as site suitability, community readiness, and the need for simple technologies that can be managed by small-scale producers.
The visit opened discussions on possible pilot activities, technical exchanges, and future collaboration tailored to local ecological and social conditions in Papua New Guinea. Areas of interest included knowledge sharing on hatchery and nursery management, community engagement processes, and basic monitoring methods that can support both production and environmental protection without creating heavy technical or financial burdens for communities.
For ATSEA, facilitating learning visits like this supports broader efforts to promote practical, community-driven solutions for sustainable fisheries and coastal livelihoods across the Arafura and Timor Seas region and neighbouring areas. By connecting fisheries authorities, research institutions, and coastal communities, these exchanges help translate scientific knowledge into practices that can be adapted to local contexts and scaled in ways that respect local capacities and priorities.
As ATSEA continues to support cooperation on fisheries management and coastal livelihoods, lessons from the Seribu Islands may help inform similar initiatives in other small island and coastal settings, where balancing income opportunities and ecosystem health remains a shared challenge. Experiences like this show how locally grounded approaches can contribute to wider regional goals for sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.
By Yulia Dewi