Utilization of Freshwater Fish Biodiversity as Income Source of Poor Rural People (Case Study in Pampangan Subdistrict of South Sumatra Province, Indonesia)

Abstract

South Sumatra Province is covered by 1.1 million hectares of swamp land,which were considered as marginal land due to wet and muddy conditionsas well as the presence of wild animals. During the wet season, theswamp ecosystem becomes a productive fishing ground, providing fishresource for neighboring communities. So this productive areaconstitutes a source of income for fishermen in the area. The currentsystem categorizes the swamp area in Pampangan subdistrict into threetypes according to the source of water. Overall, the swamp is inhabitedby 46 species of fishes and prawn. Type-2 swamp is populated by 31species, while a number of 27 and 16 species were found in the type-3and type-1 swamp, respectively. Type-2 swamp comprises the highestdiversity. Resource allocation for fisheries is managed by the localgovernment into 21 water bodies with artificial border. Each water bodyis exploited by a group of two to ten fishermen using various fishinggears, the most effective of which is a barrier with box trap (lulung).Using this fishing gear, the production might reach around 624,170 kg offish per year. This gear seems to be a nonselective gear which catches23 fish species. The other type, i.e., the longline (rawai), is the mostselective gear which catches only seven carnivorous fish species. Datacollected from this study indicates that fish yield is variable amongwater bodies from 15,000 kg per year in Lebung Asem to 220,900 kg peryear in Rasau Jungkal, depending on ecological conditions in the swamp.Thus, the management of fishing activity would be very important inkeeping fish biodiversity and in order to increase the fish yield;therefore, the income of fishermen might be increased.