Open AccessInitiating Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus Ruppell, 1835) as watching species object in Banda Islands marine ecotourism
Author(s) -
Dian Oktaviani,
S Suharti,
Isa Nagib Edrus,
Irma Hermana,
J M S Pelupessy,
Dwiyoga Nugroho
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/800/1/012053
Subject(s) - wrasse , fishery , livelihood , geography , fishing , coral reef , marine protected area , ecology , biology , habitat , fish <actinopterygii> , agriculture , archaeology
Banda islands is a small island geographically located in the Banda Sea, Maluku Province, the eastern part of Indonesia. Livelihoods consist of agriculture, plantation, animal husbandry, and fishery activities. The number of fisher households is 1576 with 3278 fishers. From 2239 units of fishing gear, 75% of them are intended to utilize tuna and tuna-like fishes as their daily livelihood. Coral reef fisheries relatively limited numbers, so that reef fish exploitation is somewhat low pressure. Therefore, the area has a high fish diversity index and likely to be a diving tourism object. An area of 2500 Ha of Marine Protected Area (MPA) Banda Sea was established in 1977. Napoleon wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus Ruppell, 1835, one of the biggest coral fish had been classified by The IUCN Red List as endangered species is somewhat easy to find in this area. From our observation, the species are commonly found in shallow coral reef waters. The estimated density was 7.13 individuals per hectare with a size between 10 - 90 cm total length. The descriptive analysis was applied by utilizing several observations in 2018 through diving operator surveys, interviews, and digital literature reviews. This study aimed to estimate the potential benefit of initiating watching tourism as the prospect of sustainable socio-economic services. Therefore, it expects to be a new economic alternative livelihood for Banda small island coastal community. With the combination of existing MPA and Napoleon wrasse presence, this study would strongly contribute to the MPA economy and ecology values and its surroundingswaters under SDG’s 14 to maximize the conservation area benefits.