Episode 48 – Why Knowledge Matters: Shark and Ray Conservation In Indonesia

In this episode, Alyssa Klim discusses the role of knowledge in shark and ray conservation in small local coastal communities in Indonesia. She looks at examples of conservation efforts that have failed to consider local context, and discusses how local knowledge can be incorporated into conservation practices and what this means for local communities. The episode features insights from Rafid Shidqi, co-founder and managing director of Thresher Shark Indonesia, an NGO dedicated to conserving thresher sharks in Indonesia.

Rafid Shidqi was previously a member of @indonesianmantaproject, working for manta rays ecology research and conservation in Raja Ampat, West Papua. He is interested in shark and rays conservation, particularly in finding the mutual benefits of conservation and livelihoods. He is also a Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Sciences (ICCS) at the University of Oxford and a Beahrs ELP Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Rafid manages and expands Thresher Shark Indonesia, building and maintaining relationships with partners, communities, donors, and other private entities. Rafid graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in Coastal Science and Policy. He is pursuing his PhD in Marine Science and Conservation at Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment.

Transcript

EPISODE 48 – Why Knowledge Matters: Shark and Ray Conservation In Indonesia

[Musical intro]

Lisa: Hey, listeners. Welcome to Seas the Day, a podcast from the Duke University Marine Lab. I’m Lisa Campbell, and today’s episode is from our conservation and development series. In this series, students research, write, and record a podcast during a condensed 4 week spring course . Today’s episode is by Alyssa Klim, a student visiting the Marine Lab from Allegheny University. Alyssa took her long standing love of sharks and challenged herself to think about how sharks are important resources in coastal communities in Indonesia. Listen and enjoy.

Sounds of waves crashing

Alyssa Kim: When you imagine the ocean, what do you think of? Do you think of white sandy beaches with turquoise waters lapping at the shore? Or perhaps you think of all the creatures that inhabit it, like I don’t know… how about sharks?

Hello everyone, my name is Alyssa Klim and I am currently an undergraduate studying at Duke Universiy’s Marine Lab. This is Seas The Day (did you “seas” what we did there?), a podcast about all things marine science and conservation. Today we are going to be talking about sharks and rays, their conservation, and how shark and ray conservation relates to the development of a country- Indonesia! Let’s get started, shall we?

As an avid shark lover myself, one of the first creatures I personally think of when it comes to the ocean- is the shark. There’s just something about them, you know? They come in so many different shapes, sizes, and colors! You may think of the beauty of whale sharks and their spotted backs- and how they eat plankton and small fish. Or you may think of the elusive villains of the movies like Jaws, The Meg, and 47 Meters down, great white sharks or megalodons that are cool yet powerful. With their rows of teeth and the quick way they slice through water, some sharks seem quite scary.

Maybe you are one of the people that worries about sharks. Maybe you worry about sharks when you go to the beach, especially when you hear of other people’s stories about shark attacks? Well, you certainly aren’t alone! In a study done in 2021 by Brianna Le Busque, 400 people were interviewed about their fears of sharks. They found that sharks were the fourth most-common reason people fear the ocean. Sharks were then the third highest cause of fear of swimming in the open ocean specifically.

Knowing that movies, books, and media cause some people to be afraid of sharks made me wonder if these widespread fears are causing problems for conservation. It made me think about how people in other places talk about sharks and issues related to them.

In the United States, our media tells us that sharks are scary and something to be feared, which may pose challenges for conservation. People may not want to conserve something that scares them. However, this fear isn’t shared by everyone across the globe, such as Indonesia. Fear doesn’t pose challenges for shark conservation there, as sharks are important for fisheries and ecotourism. Rather the challenges for shark conservation include lack of knowledge about social contexts within local communities and questions about whose knowledge counts for conservation! Questions like whose knowledge we are consulting about sharks and why this knowledge is important in the first place!

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before we get to that, let’s talk about the fact that sharks are also really important to the environment!”

Let’s dive deeper into how both sharks and rays are important to their environment and how they are also really important to us- humans!

The muffled sound of waves gives way to the sounds of being underwater.

Alyssa: Well first, what exactly do I mean when I say “sharks?” You may traditionally think of some of the species I talked about before, like great white sharks, whale sharks, and tiger sharks. In the science world, however, the group called “sharks” includes more than those species! Sharks are a part of the subclass elasmobranchi, which also includes rays, sawfish, and skates.

Sharks and rays are often grouped together because they share similar characteristics! They both have skeletons primarily made of cartilage rather than bone. Sharks and rays also are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor. This idea is important to keep in mind when we dive deeper into some other questions later, as some of the scientific literature will mention rays AND sharks! The more you know!

How many species of sharks are there? – I hear you asking?

Well, the literature will say that there are over 530 species of sharks in the world! David Ebert, Marc Dando, and Sarah Fowler put the number of species at 536- and counting! For rays, there are over 600 species. That’s a lot of rays!

Anyways- Sharks provide many different benefits to the environment. Many sharks are apex predators, which means that they help keep prey populations in check by well, eating them of course! A lot of those prey are herbivores, and they can eat sea grasses and coral. Sharks keep these herbivores from overpopulating and overgrazing, which then boosts the carbon absorption of specific habitats in the ocean. This absorption of carbon from sea plants can even help fight against climate change!

As for rays, they can be habitat engineers, which means that while they dig through the sand to look for food, they end up making habitats for small invertebrates. While digging they also don’t just end up finding food for themselves; they reveal prey for other animals to consume too! How cool is that?

There are other ways that sharks directly benefit humans too! Some coastal communities rely on fishing for sharks and rays to support their livelihoods. These communities will sell sharks and rays for their meat and skin! Some communities will also keep some sharks and rays to eat. Besides fishing, sharks and rays can be popular for ecotourism, bringing tourists from around the world for activities like snorkeling or diving.

But what about fishermen who want to fish for sharks? In Prasetyo’s 2021 article, they worry about fishing exploitation in Indonesia since shark and ray populations have been declining worldwide. With high amounts of illegal fishing and unreliable data collection, there has been a push by conservationists to conserve sharks and rays within Indonesia.

Let’s dive even deeper into the world of sharks and look into the communities that rely on fishing and ecotourism for sharks and rays, shall we? While there are many places in the world where sharks are fished, I am going to focus on Indonesia, where sharks and rays are really important to local communities, and a lot of them are in need of conservation.

Among the 119 species of shark found in Indonesia, Sulaiman and Triharyuni found that in 2021, some are endangered, threatened, and vulnerable. As for rays, Prasetyo in 2021 found that there were 116 species of rays, some also labeled as endangered, threatened, or vulnerable. Scientists also don’t have enough information on some ray species to assess whether they are threatened or not. Sharks and rays are both fished and valued for ecotourism, especially in Indonesia. With such important fishing and ecotourism industries and with shark and ray populations declining, conservationists have been pushing for more sustainable practices in both fishing and ecotourism.

Conservation can be particularly contested in Indonesia, since sharks and rays are important to many different communities in supporting their livelihoods (and not having any sharks or rays could be devastating for these communities). But when it comes to conservation, making and enforcing policies isn’t always as straightforward as some people may think. If local communities and fishermen aren’t consulted, conservation may not work. This includes ecotourism efforts as well! Let’s dive in and look at how this has played out in the real world.

More sounds of diving and being underwater

Picture this- you wake up early in the morning, rubbing sleep from your eyes as you get up and get ready. You meet with family members and friends as you board a boat, a sense of pride bubbling up in your chest. Today is the day- you are the spearing captain. As the boat arrives by a squadron of manta rays, you ready the harpoon and jump. The harpoon meets its mark and you bring the manta ray on board to sell. This has been done for generations and it will be done for generations more…at least, until foreign conservationists come in and say that you have to stop all fishing of manta rays so that they can be conserved. They ignore your knowledge that has been formed over hundreds of years, ignoring your traditions and livelihoods. They give you no other solutions, no other ways to support yourself.

This was the case for Lamakera, a village on the east tip of Solor Island within Indonesia.

Let’s talk to someone who has some first-hand knowledge about Lamakera and this conservation issue.

Welcome Rafid, co-founder and managing director of Thresher Shark Indonesia, which is an non government organization, or NGO, dedicated to the conservation of the endangered thresher sharks within Indonesia. We’ll talk more about Rafid’s work with Thresher Shark Indonesia in a bit, but first I wanted to ask him about his prior work with the Indonesian Manta Project, working on manta ray ecology conservation and research.

When I asked about how local knowledge from small fishing communities interacted with manta ray conservation, he had this to say:

Rafid: Suddenly, when the FAO report came in, like, oh look, Indonesia is the largest country that has been exporting sharks and rays, and then especially manta rays and the Lamakera community is one of the main communities where the manta ray hunting has been going on. And NGOs, I don’t know if you know, Manta Trust, so they’re actually based in the UK, and then another organization, local organizations, called Misool Foundation. So the two of them, basically, created this project to stop manta ray fishing in this community. And their approach was not very great, so it’s created a lot of conflicts with this, this community. And in 2000 because they’ve been lobbying the government to fully protect the manta ray And then the regulations eventually took place in 2014 and that’s where a lot of money actually coming into the country says, like, Okay, let’s stop the fishing in this community. And in 2016 there’s been a huge event here where essentially between the government, NGO and also the local communities, they are essentially fighting here, like the community is kicking everyone out of the village, saying, We don’t want conservation, we don’t care about your program. Get out of our island. So, yeah, it’s been like a very important event in 2016 and I think part of the reason was that, because the regulations were very top down. So the national government immediately said, if you catch manta ray, you will be fined 100,000 USD, for every individual that you catch, or you will be jailed for 15 years, something like that. So, and there’s no kind of quote, unquote alternative for these fishers, because they was just being told to stop fishing for something they’ve been doing for, you know, for many generations. So I think that’s part of the example where, when the conservation is not inclusive, and when the nature is very top down, only the government tells you what to do, it has a, you know, high chance to like fail at the end, because it’s not being welcome. It’s not being considered as a just approach, especially for the community.”

Alyssa: Thank you so much Rafid. I look forward to hearing more from you (that’s a little hint for everyone listening).

And this island isn’t the only one like it- there are small communities all over Indonesia that rely on sharks and rays for their livelihoods.

Besides Lamakera, are there other instances in which conservation was seen as negative? Why yes, there are! In a 2021 study Booth found that shark conservation can negatively impact local fishermen. Booth says that, quote “some Indonesian fishers are highly dependent on sharks for food and income, and regulation of shark fishing and trade can result in direct costs (i.e., out-of-pocket expenses) and opportunity costs (i.e., profits foregone) to these fishers, who are often economically vulnerable.” Unquote.

Conservation can be difficult, especially when there are local communities and people who have been participating in the same practices for hundreds of years. Conservation is made even more difficult when conservationists who aren’t local to the area try to impose rules and regulations without taking into account how this will affect the local community and their livelihoods. This was especially true in Lamakera, where local fishermen were not consulted by the foreign conservationists. Conservationists lacked the knowledge about what the community needed and their social contexts.

But if local knowledge is supported and acknowledged, then conservationists may be able to achieve their goals while supporting indigenous and human rights. Esmail explains in a 2023 article that conservationists may also be able to address more issues if local knowledge is used, such as climate change, food security, poverty, and of course, conservation.

With all of the impacts we have been discussing, there is a running theme. That theme is knowledge and particularly, what knowledge are we missing? This is especially true when it comes to the social contexts of these small local communities. Let’s dive a bit deeper and discover what we mean by knowledge and whose knowledge we are talking about!

More sounds of moving underwater, maybe some bubbles too. Bubbles are fun.

We have been focusing a lot on Indonesia’s smaller, coastal fishing communities. This is because these communities can be the most impacted and vulnerable when it comes to conservation. Sulaiman and Triharyuni stated in a 2021 article that Indonesia’s coastal communities usually have high poverty levels, though they have high economic potential due to their fisheries. If you are struggling to make ends meet and then someone who isn’t from your village comes in and says that you can no longer fish for the one specific fish you make money off of (and maybe even eat), then you may be more than just a little angry. Especially when this can affect how you support yourself and your family.

There is knowledge at play here. When we have been saying “foreign” conservationists, that doesn’t always mean from a different country. As said by Rafid, some of these organizations are from Indonesia but are foreigners to a particular village, such as Lamakera. These “foreigners” proceed without adequate knowledge of the social contexts of the local community, whether it be market knowledge or knowledge about the sharks and rays themselves. Let’s look at a specific example- back at an article from Booth in 2021.

Booth finds that for fishermen from smaller communities to be helped by conservation policies, conservationists must educate themselves on the markets surrounding sharks and rays within these small communities. These conservationists also need to educate themselves on the economic status of these communities. This is a knowledge that can be gained by directly involving local fishermen within the conservation process. Without this knowledge, the small communities may suffer economically without another way to support themselves. With the local community’s economic knowledge, Booth argues that conservationists can offer compensation to the local communities to make up for the money lost for the conserved species.

As Rafid says…

Rafid: “This is kind of like an ongoing conflict where the conservation especially for sharks and rays and marine megafauna still found a challenge because, I mean, the regulation is there, but it’s really hard to be accepted by the community, like in Lamakera, because they don’t want to listen unless there’s a tangible solutions from government or non-government to help them to transition.”

Alyssa: Thank you once again, Rafid.

More sounds of moving underwater, maybe some bubbles too. Bubbles are fun.

As we’ve just talked about, sometimes outside entities, such as government agencies and NGOs, don’t have knowledge about what is important to local communities or their social contexts. Without this knowledge, outside conservationists may not have all of the information they need to inform policies that directly impact these small communities. Thus the conservationists may not achieve all of the successes they originally set out to achieve.

We have been talking a lot about fishing, but what about ecotourism? Ecotourism also carries some challenges when it comes to conservation, especially if there is a lack of knowledge or of social contexts.

Let’s look at some examples of where there is a lack of local knowledge and knowledge of social contexts within shark and ray ecotourism.

Djunadi explained in a 2019 article that if not carefully monitored, ecotourism may increase the prices of items for local community members. This includes raw materials, food, and even the price of the land itself. While ecotourism may promise higher incomes, those incomes may go to higher priced food and goods, which defeats the purpose of having more pay. However, improving the consultation of local knowledge and gaining information about social contexts can tip off the organizers of ecotourism that there’s a problem that needs to be addressed.

Let’s look at an example where there were some benefits from ecotourism. In 2019, Eriksson found that shark and ray tourism helped lessen the community’s dependence on fishing and brought in more money which also lessened poverty for fishermen. However, Eriksson mentions that not all the benefits from shark and ray ecotourism go back into these smaller communities. To change this, Eriksson suggests that members from these communities should be involved in the conservation process- in short, conservationists should gain the knowledge of these communities’ social contexts.

Besides the knowledge of social contexts, there is also traditional ecological knowledge. This knowledge, as stated in Stacey’s 2012 article, is one that has been passed down through generations of indigenous communities, all about people’s relationships with each other and the environment.

In Stacey’s article titled “Prospects for Whale Shark Conservation in Eastern Indonesia Through Bajo Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Community-based Monitoring,” Bajo knowledge about whale sharks takes the front stage.

The Bajo people, Stacey says, are an indigenous group found in eastern Indonesia. The Bajo are often called sea nomads, as they are not connected to a specific area of land but instead are connected to the sea. They have been under scrutiny by the Indonesian government and conservationists, as their migratory fishing strategies are seen as a threat to conservation. But in recent years, the Bajo people have been recognized for their rich ecological knowledge by the Indonesian government and conservationists.

Bajo knowledge includes both biological and spiritual knowledge. Because of years of observations, some Bajo fishers know where whale sharks group and feed. Since whale sharks are migratory, they can be difficult to keep track of! As such, the Bajo possessed specific knowledge about whale sharks that others did not have, such as their feeding habits and where they congregated.

This knowledge has begun to be used by conservationists so that they can study whale sharks and learn more about their behavior. They are able to put tags on the whale sharks to monitor their activities – which helps inform them about whale shark populations and migratory patterns. Ecotourism groups have also begun to use this knowledge to set up new protected areas where whale shark watching can happen.

The Bajo also have a spiritual knowledge of the whale shark, as they believe that whale sharks are “guarded by a spirit. Other large marine creatures, such as whales, are also considered to be guarded by spirits, and these can protect or come to the aid of fishermen in times of need or misfortune at sea. For example, one of the fishermen from Kera Island recounted a story about a boat which sank near Savu Island. The crew were saved from drowning by a whale shark; they held onto its fin and it took them to safety. As a result of such beliefs, the killing of whale sharks (and whales) is considered taboo.”

Wow, we’ve gotten quite deep, haven’t we? Let’s surface and reconnect with our friend Rafid!

Sounds of us surfacing out of the water, the sound of gulls.

We’ve talked about shark and ray ecotourism, but let’s dive back into local fisheries.

We have been talking a lot about how conservation has negatively impacted these small fishing communities, but not so much about positive impacts. Why do you think that is? Is that because there are none? Well no, of course not! Let’s dive back into our interview with Rafid and hear a bit from the other co-founder of Thresher Shark Indonesia, Dewi!

“Conservation is very important because it’s not only protecting the ecosystem but also trying to help the community to get a better life and also to get more from the natural resources that they have. The first project that we did was trying to understand why the fishermen catch the thresher shark. What is the economic benefits of thresher shark, how this thresher shark being values in their cultures, therefore, we conduct some interviews, some focus group discussion with the local community to understand their perspective and dependency on thresher shark.”

Alyssa: That was a clip from a documentary of Thresher Shark Indonesia! Since we’ve been talking about knowledge, Thresher Shark Indonesia gives special attention to the inclusion of local voices and knowledge. They work with local fishers to understand why they fish thresher sharks and their connections to the sharks as well.

To get a better understanding of how Thresher Shark Indonesia includes local knowledge and why, I decided to go straight to the source- Rafid. My questions are:

How did Thresher Shark Indonesia start? What gaps in knowledge did you seek to address, from what you saw at Lamakera?

Were there any people that wanted to be a part of the conservation?

Let’s see what answers he has in store for us!

Rafid: Yeah. I mean the whole idea behind Thresher Shark Indonesia was, I was actually an intern for the Lamakera project. So I was in the project in 2016 I worked with them for a few months before I finished my undergrad. And I was in the middle of the conflict and at the time, where the, you know, where the ministry came into the island and then telling people basically, like, stop fishing for manta ray, you will be jailed and whatever. In the morning we were told to leave. People have been surrounding our homes with torch and, you know, holding rocks, and we were evacuated to a different island. And I think, like, it was actually like, the point where I was, like, confused, like, what’s what’s wrong? And I think kind of like setting up a personal missions in myself, like, oh, maybe there’s something wrong with the conservation approach that they did. Like, then how can we solve something like this? You know, you know that the manta ray is important, conservation is important. But then you also have this reality about people, you know, depending on them as an important source of foods, and also, you know, jobs and culture, identity and stuff like that.

And eventually, after I finish, I work for the same organizations, but I was placed in different locations, because Lamakera was very dangerous at the time. So I work at Raja Ampat, but still working with manta ray, but in fully protected waters in West Papua. I think like while working there, I have the idea about establishing my own organizations with my fellow intern at the time like, oh, what if we create something similar to Lamakera, but we apply our own intuitions as local Indonesians, you know, rather than adopting all of the approach from some organizations in the UK, that I think part of the what makes it problematic is like these folks just coming to the village for a few days then going back to the UK, you know, and essentially, like not knowing the full context of what is needed and what is important for the community.

My friend and I decided to work on our organization Thresher Shark Indonesia that we founded in 2018 and what we do is basically spend the entire two years in the village. I help them cleaning their chicken cage. I help them to build wells. I go to a circumcised ceremony of some boys. I attend wedding. Nothing about conservation. So basically, like, what I do is like living within the house of the shark fishermen and joining every part of their daily activities. So just you know, I never mentioned anything about conservation at the time. What I want to know is just like, why are they doing that? From that, like, two years of observations and just daily interacting with the communities I started to understand about, like, the real importance of the sharks. And that’s why I think conservation is not the first thing that I brought to the community. It was more kind of like, you know, what do you need? Like, how, how do you feel about your life right now? You know, like as a fishers, are there any, you know, difficulties that you experience? And then, we can bring the idea of sharks in there, because we want to ensure that you know, when the sharks come into the discussions, the response will be, you know, different. And we eventually initiate the conservations in the third year. You know, a scenario like, oh, what if we protect the sharks? Would be your response? Like, is it going to create a difference in your household? Is it going to be different in your identity? Like, would you be comfortable in giving up shark fishing and something like that. And then we start, kind of like formulating that idea based on the community. So it’s a very kind of long engagement to come into that idea. And we do like household discussion. So we go from home to home. And eventually I started that, you know, individual engagement. We go to a group, the whole village, and ask things like, does shark fishing is important to your culture or your identity or your social life? And then asking like, if, if we initiate conservation, is it possible for a community? And then, like, some of them accept the idea, like, yes, we are. We are okay with stopping fishing for sharks for as long as there is something in return, you know, like, oh. And some of them mentioned about, like, oh, I actually want to fish for tuna because it’s more valuable. I’m old now, it’s not safe for me to go out to the sea. So I want to, you know, build a business in my home.

I think from those conversations my organization is focused on, kind of like fundraising, and then, you know, looking for support in transitioning this community, and then, you know, developing some activities there. So I think our role is more kind of like facilitator of the conversations and also discussions, and then as the ones that actually connect resources from outside to be brought to the community. Once we were there, even more, you know, even longer, we just realized about, like, the political dynamics in the village itself. Some immediately agree with the idea, because, like, I mentioned, like, you know, I think part of the part of the story is, like, shark fishing is the only thing they know, but they also recognize, like, it’s very labor intensive, the shark is big and heavy, and it doesn’t actually sell that much, and the meat is very cheap, so it’s a good source of protein for the community because It’s cheap, so everybody can buy and eat. But from the fisher’s perspective, they said, like, I don’t think you know, fishing for sharks will get me anywhere. And then they saw like outside fishermen from the neighboring islands go around their village during the tuna season so they can earn millions of Rupiah every. Season. That’s the some of them who are really willing to, kind of, like, change the, you know, the conditions of their life. Like they said, oh yeah.

And tuna fishing is a whole different practice. You know, it requires a boat that is light and nimble, and requires more power on the machine, because you have to, you know, be very fast and stuff like that. That’s so it’s a whole new knowledge the fishers, and then they say, We want to know how to fish for tuna if you want, if you are able to teach us how and provide us the needed facilities, the boat, the engine, we would love to, you know, be part of the program, and that’s what we did. So, you know, okay, and I think, you know, based on the group of the fishermen, not everybody wants to fish for tuna. Some of them, like I mentioned, are already old enough, and they feel like going out fishing is not safe for them. They want to build a new business. They want to, you know, build a farm and something like that. So it’s entirely personal preferences. So what we do is just make sure that we can give the necessary support. And some actually wanted to be part of it, but they cannot do it because of the politics and conflicts.”

Alyssa: Thank you once again Rafid for your insightful answers. It seems like making sure conservation practitioners develop sufficient knowledge of local peoples and communities is the way to go when trying to achieve conservation, especially with sharks and rays!

It seems like our time together is nearing its end. Let’s go to the shore and dry off…

Sounds of gulls and gentle waves

We’ve learned quite a lot today, haven’t we? Sharks and rays are wonderful creatures that do some amazing things for their environment and by extension, us. By eating herbivores, sharks protect plants that absorb carbon that would have gone into our atmosphere- helping us curb climate change. Rays are habitat engineers and will change their environment which can benefit other species. Sharks also are important to us, as it turns out. Sharks and rays also help people have livelihoods, whether they are fishermen or ecotourism guides.

However, by conserving sharks and rays we are met by an issue of knowledge. Of whose knowledge is influential in creating policies, or seen as important. How not including local knowledge can have negative effects on conservation (like how it might never be done at all).

But by the end of the day, including local knowledge seems like the right wave to sail on- and local knowledge can be included by many different organizations, both governmental and non. If we include local knowledge, we may be able to conserve sharks and rays like we want to: by having sustainable fisheries, sustainable ecotourism, and deep bonds with the sharks and rays themselves.

Thank you so much for joining me today! You should dive with me again soon, who knows what we’ll find…

Waves splashing

Lisa: Thanks for listening to Seas the Day. Today’s episode was written and recorded by Alyssa Klim and edited by Matthew Godfrey. Our artwork is by Steph Hillsgrove and our music is by Joe Morton. You can learn more about today’s episode on our website sites.nicholas.duke.edu/seastheday. Listen and like us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and follow us on Instagram @seasthedaypod.

END

References

Episode 48 – Why Knowledge Matters: Shark and Ray Conservation In Indonesia

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