Paper Presented in the International Ocean Science, Technology and Policy Symposium 2009 World Ocean Conference 2009 Manado, 12-14 May 2009 1 Lesson Learned from Coral Reef Ornamental Fisheries Management in Seribu Islands, Indonesia: Beyond MAC Standards Muhammad Syahrir Silvianita Timotius Mikael Prastowo Idris Safran Yusri Yayasan TERANGI Yayasan TERANGI Yayasan TERANGI Yayasan TERANGI Yayasan TERANGI muhammad. syahrir@terangi. or.id silvianita.timotius @terangi.or.id mikael.prastowo @terangi.or.id Idris @terangi.or. id safran.yusri @terangi.or.id Abstract Seribu Islands, Jakarta, is one of the favored collection area for marine ornamental species in Indonesia, but, sadly, it was left unmanaged. In order to prevent coral reefs degradation, an ornamental fishery management program has been implemented by TERANGI in Seribu Islands since 2002. The program at first only consisted of MAC Certification implementation and targeted only to selected fishermen and middlemen. This approach was not effective due to several problems such as limited group cohesion, lack of program awareness, inadequate law enforcement, lack of leadership in the community, no coordination between government and the community, and lack of stakeholder involvement. Therefore a holistic approach was implemented since 2004. Fishermen and middlemen were facilitated to organize a community group, and empowered through a series of trainings to comply with MAC Collecting Fishing and Handling Standards. In order to manage the ecosystem itself, a Collection Area Management Plan was developed with participation from related stakeholders. The key to the development success is the cooperation between government and community, thus making rule enforcement and integrated management possible. After following the program, fishermen and middlemen have experience benefits (i.e. reduced fishing cost, less illegal retribution, less rejected catch) and stopped using cyanide. Difficulties were still encountered in fisheries monitoring and evaluation. The trade documentation form is too difficult for fishermen and middlemen hence require simplification. Our regular stock assessment using modified MAQTRAC protocol also insufficient, several most traded species can’t be monitored in the surveys. Complementary methodologies should be developed to fill the information gap. Organizational aspects of the community group are also needed to be strengthened. Since the program have a promising result, it is suggested that a holistic approach should always be used to manage a coral reefs ecosystem complex. Keywords: Seribu Islands, ornamental, fishery, management, MAC Standard 1. Introduction Marine ornamental trade is multi million dollar industry, worth an estimated US$200-350 million annually, and operating throughout the tropics [1]. Marine ornamentals are, in fact, one of the highest value-added product from coral reefs, with an estimated worth of US$ 7,000 per metric ton of live coral, while harvested coral for lime only worth US$60, and fish for food only worth US$6,000 compared with US$496,000 for ornamental fish per metric ton [2]. Indonesia and the Phillipines are the world’s leading exporters of marine ornamental fish, supplying an estimated 85% of fish imported by the United States and Europe, the trade’s largest consumers