Community-Based Crab Conservation in Chonburi, Thailand
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Community-based Crab Conservation in Chonburi, Thailand: CASE STUDY 31 Engaging Local Fishers and Communities in Marine Conservation Case Study 31 Community-based Crab Conservation in Chonburi, Thailand: Engaging Local Fishers and Communities in Marine Conservation Nisakorn Wiwekwin1 * and Praparsiri Barnette2 1 Saensuk Municipal Office, Saensuk Municipality, Chonburi, Thailand 2 Department of Aquatic Science, Faculty of Science ICM Learning Center, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand Key Message Abstract The success of blue swimming crab The blue swimming crab(Portunus pelagicus) conservation as experienced in Chonburi is among the important local and export Province of Thailand is largely due to: commodities of Chonburi, and is a key source of livelihood for local fishers. However, • linking conservation with food security the harvest was continuously declining in and livelihood of the local community; the late 1990s as a result of overharvesting, environmental degradation, and use of • increased understanding and realization advanced fishing equipment. of the rights, role, and responsibility of the local fishers and coastal As part of the integrated coastal management communities to ensure sustainable (ICM) program of Chonburi Province, a supply of marine resources; and crab conservation project was implemented focusing on the following: • committed local political leadership to effectively promote partnerships among • increasing the roles and responsibilities of government, stakeholders, and other local fishers and communities in marine interest groups in leveraging human and conservation; financial resources to replicate and scale This section is part of the book: up conservation efforts throughout the • protecting the gravid females (i.e., crabs Chua, T.-E., L.M. Chou, G. Jacinto, S.A. Ross, and D. Bonga. (Editors). province. with eggs) to enhance production (i.e., 2018. Local Contributions to Global protecting the “mother” [broodstock], as Sustainable Agenda: Case Studies in Integrated Coastal Management in the opposed to the conventional approach of East Asian Seas Region. Partnerships protecting the young); and in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) and Coastal Management Center (CMC), Quezon City, Philippines. * Email: [email protected] 357 CASE STUDY 31 • educating fishers and the public by engaging beaches, fresh seafood and proximity to them in the protection and conservation of cosmopolitan Bangkok (Figure 1). Over the past marine and coastal resources. 30 years, Chonburi has undergone economic transformation, from agricultural to industrial, The key processes included: (1) gathering female as a result of a national policy to develop the crabs with eggs and holding them in submerged eastern region of the Gulf of Thailand through cages; (2) securing the cooperation of fishers the implementation of the Eastern Seaboard to temporarily “surrender” gravid female crabs Development Project. to the project until the eggs were released to the surrounding water; and (3) returning the crabs to In the late 1990s, the adverse environmental fishers and monitoring crab harvests over time. impacts of rapid development of the Eastern This project was first implemented by Sriracha Seaboard, including Chonburi Province, were Municipality to demonstrate its feasibility. recognized by both the government and the people of Thailand. About the same time, the Over the years, increase in harvesting of crabs was national government’s decentralization policy was observed since the crab conservation program officially adopted providing local governments started in 2006. This translated to better income with the opportunity and responsibility to and improved livelihood for the local fishers. manage their environment and natural resources therein. Since then, the crab conservation project was replicated and incorporated into the An ICM demonstration project was initiated local development plans and budgets of in Chonburi Province in 2001 involving five seven other local governments in Chonburi municipalities, including Sriracha, which Province, including the municipalities of hosted the ICM project office. A provincial- Saensuk, Satthahip, Laemchabang, Bang Phra, wide Coastal Strategy was adopted in 2004, with Banglamung, and Bang Sarae as well as Pattaya Sriracha, subsequently, adopting a medium-term City. implementation plan (ICM Action Plan) with the blue swimming crab conservation as one of the The outcome of the crab conservation projects priority projects. in Chonburi were: (a) increasing understanding, appreciation, and ownership of the local The blue swimming crab is an important local stakeholders; (b) improving local capacity in commodity in Chonburi in high demand among marine resource management; (c) creating local locals as well as tourists. In 1998, the harvest platforms for public education and engagement from the Gulf of Thailand reached a peak of on marine conservation; (d) leveraging and 37,281 tons, from 18,708 tons in 1985. Harvest facilitating technical and financial assistance then continuously declined from the late 1990s for replications in other coastal areas; and (e) to 15,132 tons in 2009 (Vanguard, 2012, cited integrating or mainstreaming crab conservation in Thai Health Promotion Foundation, 2012). into local development plans. The decline was associated with overharvesting and environmental degradation arising from unregulated coastal development. Local fishers Background and commercial operators, including those from Chonburi Province, were using collapsible Chonburi Province is a popular destination bottom traps and floating seines, which captured for local and foreign tourists for its scenic the mature and gravid crabs, and even the young 358 Community-based Crab Conservation in Chonburi, Thailand: CASE STUDY 31 Engaging Local Fishers and Communities in Marine Conservation Chonburi Figure 1. Chonburi Province is located in the Province eastern seaboard of the Gulf of Thailand, south of Bangkok. C h o n b u r i P r o v i n c e Gulf of Thailand ones. Some of the fishers were relying primarily conservation program of blue swimming crabs on the crab harvest and this significant decrease to demonstrate the solutions to overharvesting in the population of the blue swimming crabs and environment degradation through increasing was affecting their income and threatening their public awareness, stakeholders’ participation, livelihood. and sharing of responsibilities. The success of the program was also attributed to a leader This case study highlights the efforts of the local who understands and champions the cause governments in Chonburi in addressing their of the fishers and the importance of marine marine conservation challenges by using the conservation (Box 1). 359 CASE STUDY 31 Box 1. An ICM champion. Approach and Methodology Mr. Chatchai Thimkrajang, former mayor of The “crab condo” project Sriracha Municipality, played a critical role in the establishment and implementation of the ICM Scientific studies have shown that one program in Chonburi. As head of the Chonburi female crab can produce up to a million Fisheries Association, he was responsible in eggs (depending on the size of the crab) understanding the problems of local fishers, (Nitiratsuwan, et al., 2007; Oniam, et al., the consequences of unsustainable fisheries 2012; Kunsook, et al., 2014). Recognizing practices and other natural and human-induced the unrealized potential if these gravid crabs factors on local food security and livelihood. He are captured and sold before they are able to considered the local people’s lack of awareness release their eggs, a novel idea of “protecting the and understanding of the marine resources and mother,” instead of the conventional approach environment and how these were adversely in marine and coastal resource management of affected by their activities, as well as weak law protecting the young, was adopted and tested in enforcement at the local level, as among the root Chonburi as one of the conservation activities of causes of problems that affect the sustainability the ICM program. of local fisheries. Inspired by the condominium developments Based on his extensive management experience in Sriracha Municipality, the design consisted and being a fisher himself, Mr. Chatchai believed of a stack of baskets so that each gravid crab that providing a demonstration was the best was kept separately to facilitate feeding, strategy to capture the interest of local fishers and maintenance, and removal after release of eggs to educate them on environment friendly fishing (Figures 2 and 3). The local fishers called it “crab practices and marine conservation. He knew how condominium” or more popularly, “crab condo”. local fishers learn from each other by sharing The structure was submerged near the coast, experiences and efficient techniques. using floating rafts, to facilitate regular feeding and maintenance. Collaborative arrangements Figure 2. Mr. Chatchai Thimkrajang among local fishers were made: for them to demonstrating a gravid female crab “surrender” gravid female crabs for stocking the being placed in an enclosed tray for crab-condo; for maintenance of the structure; nurturing until the eggs are released. and for sale arrangement after the release of eggs. Funding was secured from the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) to support the pilot demonstration of the project in Sriracha. Pilot testing of the crab condo In partnership with the Chonburi