Muroami fisheries in weh island, Aceh province

Abstract

Weh Island is located in the most western part of Aceh Province, Indonesia which has been considered to have good coral reef condition and rich of reef fish, therefore; reef fisheries is abundant and prominent. There are eight (8) fishing gears that are being used by fishermen in Weh Island and these are set gillnet, encircling gillnet, handline, muroami, troll line, speargun, longline, and purse seine. The Muroami is one of the fishing gears that causes severe damage coral reed and marine ecosystems. The objective of this stu-dy is to examine Muroami fishing activities and its negative impact to coral reef ecosystem. Fish catch analysis, a correlation between fish length and trophic level and the comparison fish catch and biomass are among the methods employed in this study. The fish catch data which include the total of catch (kg), species name and measure of fish length, and fishing grounds were collected using photograph during west monsoon of 2008 and east monsoon of 2009. In addition, fish size structure and biomass estimation were sampled using visual census methods. The financial analysis of Muroami had also been taken to obtain pertinent financial information of Muroami fisheries. The results showed majority of Muroami fish catch are Acanthuridae and Scaridae. The Muroami net income was Rp.77,705,357 for each fishing gear per year.