Perception and Participation of Fishermen in The Sustainable Management of Mud Crabs on The Outermost Small Island (Case Study : Enggano Island, Bengkulu Province, Indonesia)

Abstract

Enggano Island is one of 111 small outermost islands in Indonesia and administratively belongs to the North Bengkulu Regency Bengkulu Province. Of 881 households, as many as 20.89% worked in the capture fisheries sub-sector. One species of capture fisheries which is the economic basis is mud crabs with an average production of 37.85 tons per year. In its life cycle, mud crabs are associated with mangrove ecosystems. This study aims to 1) examine the perception and participation of fishermen in the management of mud crabs and mangrove ecosystems on the small outer islands and 2) analyze factors that influence the participation of fishermen in the sustainable management of mud crabs and mangrove ecosystems in a sustainable manner. The analytical tool used is the Likert scale and multiple linear regression. The results showed that the perception of fishermen towards mud crabs was in a good category with a score of 3.46 and the perception of fishermen on mangrove ecosystems was in the very good category with a score of 4.23. The participation of fishermen in the sustainable management of mud crabs is categorized in the high category with the score of 3.81, and the participation of fishermen in the sustainable management of mangrove ecosystems is categorized in the very high participation category with the score of 4.35. Fishermen’s participation in mud crab management is influenced by perception of mangrove ecosystems and income as fishermen. The participation of fishermen in the sustainable management of mangrove ecosystems is influenced by perceptions of the mangrove ecosystem and the income of fishermen from other sources.